RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Afzal, Muhammad Sohail A1 Alsaleh, Khaled A1 Farhat, Rayan A1 Belouzard, Sandrine A1 Danneels, Adeline A1 Descamps, Véronique A1 Duverlie, Gilles A1 Wychowski, Czeslaw A1 Zaidi, Najam us Sahar Sadaf A1 Dubuisson, Jean A1 Rouillé, YvesYR 2015 T1 Regulation of core expression during the hepatitis C virus life cycle JF Journal of General Virology, VO 96 IS 2 SP 311 OP 321 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.070433-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Core plays a critical role during hepatitis C virus (HCV) assembly, not only as a structural component of the virion, but also as a regulator of the formation of assembly sites. In this study, we observed that core is expressed later than other HCV proteins in a single viral cycle assay, resulting in a relative increase of core expression during a late step of the viral life cycle. This delayed core expression results from an increase of core half-life, indicating that core is initially degraded and is stabilized at a late step of the HCV life cycle. Stabilization-mediated delayed kinetics of core expression were also observed using heterologous expression systems. Core stabilization did not depend on its interaction with non-structural proteins or lipid droplets but was correlated with its expression levels and its oligomerization status. Therefore in the course of a HCV infection, core stabilization is likely to occur when the prior amplification of the viral genome during an initial replication step allows core to be synthesized at higher levels as a stable protein, during the assembly step of the viral life cycle., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.070433-0