Expression and identification of the HCV core protein in the human hepatocyte QSG7701

Objective:To construct a recombinant plasmid enconding HCV core gene and induce the expression of core protein in the human hepatocyte and identify the core protein.Methods:HCV core gene was clone by using PCR from plasmid pBRTM/HCV1-3011 which concludes the full length of HCV gene.We recombined the core segment with expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-) to construct eukaryotic plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)/core.Then the plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)/core was transfected into human hepatocytes by using poly-cation.The expression of core protein was detected by immunochemical staining method and Western blot.Results:The clone core segment had correct length and sequence the QSG7701 cells were successfully transfected and expressed core protein.Conclusion:We have successfully constructed eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)/core which included the HCV core gene.And the vector successfully expressed core protein in human hepatocytes these result provide a good core protein expression system for the study of the hepatocarcinogesis of the core protein and lay foundation for developing the HCV DNA vaccine.