The nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) encoded by the human hepatitis C virus RNA genome is shown here to induce the activation of NF-B and STAT-3 transcription factors from its cytoplasmic residence via oxidative stress. NS5A causes the disturbance of intracellular calcium. Ca 2؉ signaling triggers the elevation of reactive oxygen species in mitochondria, leading to the translocation of NF-B and STAT-3 into the nucleus. Evidence is presented for the constitutive activation of STAT-3 by NS5A. In the presence of antioxidants [pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC)] or Ca 2؉ chelators (EGTA-AM, TMB-8), NS5A-induced activation of NF-B and STAT-3 was eliminated. These results provide an insight into the mechanism by which NS5A can alter intracellular events relevant to liver pathogenesis associated with the viral infection.H epatitis C virus (HCV) causes acute͞chronic hepatitis with a significant risk of end-stage cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (1). The single-stranded RNA genome of the human HCV is a 9.6-kb-long positive-sense molecule, which encodes a polyprotein of about 3,000 aa (2, 3). The polyprotein is posttranslationally cleaved by both viral͞cellular proteases to produce about 10 polypeptides that include structural (core and E1 and E2) and nonstructural (NS2, NS3-NS5A͞B) proteins (2, 3). The single long ORF is preceded by 332 or 342 nt of the 5Ј untranslated region, which harbors an internal ribosome entry site capable of initiating translation at an internal site (4-6). The 3Ј end of the RNA genome contains a unique sequence of the untranslated region that is necessary for initiating RNA replication. Although the infectious cDNA clones that have been generated could infect chimpanzees, they failed to replicate in vitro in cultured cell lines (7). Lohmann et al. (8) described the generation of efficient replicating HCV RNA subgenomic replicons coexpressing a neomycin-resistance marker. A high level of replication of subgenomic replicons was characterized, resulting from adaptive mutations, which were scattered throughout the HCV genes of the replicon (9, 10).The HCV NS5A has generated a significant level of interest as several cellular targets have been identified. NS5A is a serine phosphoprotein, which exists as a polypeptide of p56 or p58 with varying degrees of phosphorylation (11,12). The identity of cellular kinase(s) responsible for NSS5A phosphorylation has not been firmly established. NS4A, an integral membrane protein, has been shown to modulate NS5A phosphorylation at least for some HCV subtypes (13). NS5A is localized to the cytoplasm in the perinuclear reticular network characteristic of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane (3,14). NS5A came into prominence because of its suggested role in IFN resistance. It was shown that NS5A directly interacted with double-stranded RNA-dependent kinase (PKR) and inactivated its function, thus modulating the IFN-stimulated antiviral response (15). Neither the sites of hyperphosphorylation nor the region designated ISDR (IFN-sen...

Oxygen derived species such as superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radical are well known to be cytotoxic and have been implicated in the etiology of a wide array of human diseases, including cancer. Various carcinogens may also partly exert their effect by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) during their metabolism. Oxidative damage to cellular DNA can lead to mutations and may, therefore, play an important role in the initiation and progression of multistage carcinogenesis. The changes in DNA such as base modification, rearrangement of DNA sequence, miscoding of DNA lesion, gene duplication and the activation of oncogenes may be involved in the initiation of various cancers. Elevated levels of ROS and down regulation of ROS scavengers and antioxidant enzymes are associated with various human diseases including various cancers. ROS are also implicated in diabtes and neurodegenerative diseases. ROS influences central cellular processes such as proliferation a, apoptosis, senescence which are implicated in the development of cancer. Understanding the role of ROS as key mediators in signaling cascades may provide various opportunities for pharmacological intervention.

The hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays essential roles in viral replication and the generation of hepatocellular carcinoma. In spite of a large number of suggestive cellular targets and functions, a clear picture of its mechanism(s) of action has remained elusive. In this report, we continue to characterize its recently described mitochondrial association and further examine its impact on mitochondrial functions. HBx was previously shown to bind to a voltage-dependent anion channel (

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