Breaking bad mitochondria: Mechanism helps explain persistence of hepatitis C virus

Breaking bad mitochondria
Mitochondria in hepatitis C-infected cells (bottom row) are self-destructing. The self-annihilation process explains the persistance and virulence of the virus in human liver cells. Credit: UC San Diego School of Medicine



The study, published in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that mitochondrial operations could be a therapeutic target against hepatitis C, the leading cause of and a major cause of in the U.S.

"Our study tells us the story of how the hepatitis C virus causes ," said Aleem Siddiqui, PhD, professor of medicine and senior author. "The virus damages mitochondria in liver cells. Cells recognize the damage and respond to it by recruiting proteins that tell the mitochondria to eliminate the damaged area, but the repair process ends up helping the virus."


Specifically, the researchers discovered that the virus stimulates the production of a protein (Drp 1) that induces viral-damaged to undergo asymmetric fragmentation. This fragmentation (fission) results in the formation of one healthy mitochondrion and one damaged or bad mitochondrion, the latter of which is quickly broken down (catabolized) and dissolved in the cell's cytoplasm.

Although the fragmentation serves to excise the damaged area from the mitochondrion, the formation of a healthy mitochondrion also helps keep the virus-infected cell alive. Moreover, the virus is able to use the mitochondrial remains (all the amino acids and lipids from the catabolized ) to help fuel its continued replication and virulence.





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More information: Hepatitis C virus triggers mitochondrial fission and attenuates apoptosis to promote viral persistence, PNAS, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1321114111
Citation: Breaking bad mitochondria: Mechanism helps explain persistence of hepatitis C virus (2014, April 15) retrieved 6 June 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-04-bad-mitochondria-mechanism-persistence-hepatitis.html

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