Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major causative agent of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and can be involved in very long chronic infections up to 30 years or more. Therefore, it has been speculated that HCV possesses mechanisms capable of modulating host defense systems such as innate and adaptive immunity. To investigate this virus-host interaction, we generated HCV replicons containing various HCV structural proteins and then analyzed the sensitivity of replicon-containing cells to the apoptosis-inducing agent, TRAIL. TRAIL-induced apoptosis was monitored by cleavage of procaspase-3 and procaspase-9 as well as that of their substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. TRAIL-induced apoptosis was inhibited in cells expressing HCV E2. Moreover, expression of HCV E2 enhanced the colony forming efficiency of replicon-containing cells by 25-fold. Blockage of apoptosis by E2 seems to be related to inhibition of TRAIL-induced cytochrome c release from the mitochondria. Based on these results, we propose that E2 augments persistent HCV infection by blocking host-induced apoptosis of infected cells.

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An increasing number of firms around the world are applying corporate sustainability management (CSM) to their business operations, and the research interest on the effect of CSM in terms of the capital market benefit has grown rapidly under the different research settings across various countries. This study investigates whether CSM contributes to increasing firm value and improving the market response to earnings disclosure, using Korean firms as the sample. The test results show that firms with CSM reporting outperform the other firms in terms of Tobin's Q and the market-adjusted stock returns over a year. Further, investors respond more strongly to the earnings announcement events of the CSM firms than the non-CSM firms, which is more likely to be attributed to the enhanced corporate disclosure practice of the CSM firms than an improvement in earnings quality. Our findings indicate that the shareholders of firms with CSM reporting can enjoy relatively higher market valuations and enhanced information content of earnings disclosures. In conclusion, the results show that the CSM activities in pursuit of a harmonious relationship with the various stakeholders bring different forms of market benefits to shareholders as well.

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