HCV infection typically induces liver injury and inflammation, which appears to be responsible for the associated fibrogenesis. To date, the mechanism underlying the different rates of disease progression remains unclear. The aim of the study is to understand the possible role of the HCV non-structural (NS) 3/4A protein in the fibrosis progression. We used NS3/4A-expressing transgenic mice (NS3...

Effective therapeutic vaccines against virus infection must induce sufficient levels of cell-mediated immune responses against the target viral epitopes and also must avoid concomitant risk factors, such as potential carcinogenic properties. The nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) carries a variety of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell epitopes, and induces strong HCV-specific T cell...

Studies on the replication of the pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) were considerably facilitated by the recent discovery of an autonomous subgenomic BVDV RNA replicon (DI9c). DI9c comprises mainly the untranslated regions of the viral genome and the coding region of the nonstructural proteins NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B. To assess the significance of the NS3-associated nucleosi...

The traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia annua can prevent and treat hepatitis following an unclear mechanism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of A. annua polysaccharides (AAP) on hepatitis C virus (HCV). A pcDNA3.1/NS3 expression vector was constructed. Ninety female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups: high-dose AAP (1 mg/mL) + HCV/NS3 plasmid; middle-dose AA...

Background. Cigarette smoking could induce endothelial dysfunction and the increase of circulating markers inflammation by activation monocytes. This can lead to increased intima media thickness (IMT) entire blood vessels result in acceleration atherosclerosis process. However, our knowledge, little is known about role cigarette this atherosclerotic inflammatory proc...

Abstract Background Childbirth is a life-transforming intense event to woman and her family. Even though variety of non-pharmacological techniques are readily available alleviate the distress women in labour, majority unaware its benefits. The objective study was explore impact simple technique i.e., antepartum brea...

Background: Exagerated immune activation has a key role in the pathogenesis of malaria. During blood-stage infection, Plasmodium falciparum can interact directly with host cells through infected red blood (PfiRBCs), or indirectly by release extracellular vesicles (EVs). Here, we compared impact <n...

Aims: The aim of the study was to reveal variability in soil properties influencing pigeonpea (Cajanus cajana L.) seed yield under semi-arid rainfed condition. Methods: Soils were initially classified into series level and further these divided soil-phase units. For two site years viz.</ns3:ital...

A series of mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) of hepatitis C virus was prepared. One of these MAbs, designated 8D4, was found to inhibit NS3 protease activity. This inhibition was competitive with respect to the substrate peptide (K(i) = 39 nM) but was significantly decreased by the addition of the NS4A peptide, a coactivator of the NS3 protease. 8D4 also s...

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural 3 (NS3) protein is composed of an amino terminal protease and a carboxyl terminal RNA helicase. NS3 contains major antigenic epitopes. The antibody response to NS3 appears early in the course of infection and is focused on the helicase region. However, this response cannot be defined by short synthetic peptides indicating the recognition of conformation...