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Journal of General Virology header logo Journal of General Virology

Volume 90, Issue 9

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nucleocapsid protein does not modulate transcription of the human gene No Access

Abstract

Among the structural and nonstructural proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), the nucleocapsid (N) protein plays pivotal roles in the biology and pathogenesis of viral infection. N protein is thought to dysregulate cell signalling and the transcription of cellular genes, including , which encodes a prothrombinase implicated in vascular thrombosis, fibrin deposition and pneumocyte necrosis. Here, we showed that N protein expressed in cultured human cells was predominantly found in the cytoplasm and was competent in repressing the transcriptional activity driven by interferon-stimulated response elements. However, the expression of N protein did not influence the transcription from the promoter. More importantly, N protein did not modulate the expression of FGL2 mRNA or protein in transfected or SARS-CoV-infected cells. Taken together, our findings did not support the model in which SARS-CoV N protein specifically modulates transcription of the gene to cause fibrosis and vascular thrombosis.

  • Received:
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/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.009209-0
2009-09-01
2025-04-25
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/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.009209-0
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nucleocapsid protein does not modulate transcription of the human FGL2 gene
J. Gen. Virol. 90, 2107 (2009); https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.009209-0
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.009209-0
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.009209-0
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