Body Mass Index and All-Cause Mortality in Elderly Patients with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Meta-Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The "obesity paradox" in elderly patients suffering from percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains a source of controversy. The present meta-analysis focused on exploring the real existence of "obesity paradox" in these patients. METHODS: As of November 2022, PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases were comprehensively searched to identify articles reporting all-cause mortality according to diverse body mass index (BMI) categories after PCI among the old cases developing coronary artery disease (CAD). Summary estimates of relative risks (RRs) were assigned to four BMI groups, including underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity groups. RESULTS: There were altogether nine articles involving 25,798 cases selected for further analysis. Relative to normal weight group, overweight and obesity groups had decreased all-cause mortality (RR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.77-0.95 for overweight group; RR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.40-0.80 for obesity group), while underweight group had elevated all-cause mortality (RR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.01-2.29). CONCLUSION: Our study revealed an "obesity paradox" relation of BMI with all-cause mortality in elderly cases receiving PCI. In comparison with normal weight group, overweight and obesity groups had decreased all-cause mortality, while underweight group had increased all-cause mortality.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of nine toll like receptor (TLR) genes in Scortum barcoo under Streptococcus agalactiae infection.

Toll like receptors (TLRs) are important pattern recognition receptors participating in innate immune system. Up to now, no TLR has been identified in Jade perch (Scortum barcoo). In this study, we successfully identified 9 members of TLRs from the Jade perch. Amino acid sequence alignment analysis showed that the whole sequences of these TLRs were highly conserved among different fish species, especially in LRR, TM and TIR domains. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that each SbTLR was successfully grouped into corresponding gene family of teleosts. Expression analysis showed that most SbTLRs mainly expressed in liver, spleen, muscle and skin, while expressed less in brain and stomach. After Streptococcus agalactiae infection, expression of SbTLR2, SbTLR5S and SbTLR22 were significantly upregulated, while SbTLR3, SbTLR5M, SbTLR9, SbTLR13, and SbTLR14 were significantly downregulated. In all, this research first reported molecular characterization and expression profiles of 9 TLRs in Jade perch. These data will make a contribution for better understanding the antibacterial mechanism of TLRs in teleosts.

Pan-cancer analysis based on epigenetic modification explains the value of HJURP in the tumor microenvironment.

To analyze the expression levels, prognostic value and immune infiltration association of Holliday junction protein (HJURP) as well as its feasibility as a pan-cancer biomarker for different cancers. The Protter online tool was utilized to obtain the localization of HJURP, then the methylation of HJURP in tumors were further explored. Thereafter, the mRNA data and clinical characteristics of 33 tumor types from TCGA database were obtained to investigate the expression and prognostic relationship of HJURP in different tumor types. Finally, the composition pattern and immune infiltration of HJURP in different tumors were detected in Tumor Immune Estimation Resource. HJURP was abnormally expressed in most of the cancer types and subtypes in TCGA database. Also, it was associated with poor prognosis of different cohorts. At the same time, the results also showed that HJURP was related to tumor immune evasion through different mechanisms, including T cell rejection and methylation in different cancer types. Besides, the methylation of HJURP was inversely proportional to mRNA expression levels, which mediated the dysfunctional phenotypes of T cells and poor prognosis of different cancer types. Alternatively, our results indicated that HJURP expression was associated with immune cell infiltration in a variety of cancers. HJURP may serve as an oncogenic molecule, and its expression and immune infiltration characteristics can be used as a biomarker for cancer detection, prognosis, treatment design and follow-up.

Personalized Gamma Knife radiosurgery for cavernous sinus hemangiomas: A Chinese single-center retrospective study for 10 years of 187 patients.

Background: The aim of this study is to retrospectively review the effectiveness and safety of personalized Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for cavernous sinus hemangiomas (CSHs) and to summarize experience of personalized GKRS treatment for different volume of CSHs. Methods: 187 CSHs patients who received personalized GKRS treatment in our center from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2020 were enrolled in this study and classified into small and medium CSHs (<20 ml), large CSHs (20-40 ml) and giant CSHs (≥40 ml) according to tumor volume. The personalized GKRS treatment strategy included single GKRS and staged GKRS. Tumor shrinkage rate, clinical symptoms response, and complications after GKRS were recorded during the follow-up period. Multivariate factors influencing clinical symptoms response were analyzed after personalized GKRS treatment. Results: After a mean follow-up duration of 28 months (range 12-124 months), the tumor control rate was 100%, and the mean shrinkage rate of CSHs was 93.2% (61.3%-100%) in the last follow-up. Of the 115 patients with preexisting symptoms, 43 (37.5%) patients showed symptom disappearance, 17 (14.7%) patients demonstrated improvement, and 55 (47.8%) patients remained with no change. Previous surgical resection of CSHs (OR = 0.025, 95% CI 0.007-0.084, P = .000) was identified to be an independent risk factor for no symptom improvement after GKRS treatment. Conclusions: Personalized GKRS is an effective and safe treatment for different volume of CSHs, which is capable of shrinking the tumor and improving symptoms with extremely low incidence of adverse effects and might be considered as the primary treatment strategy for CSHs.

High CENPA expression in papillary renal cell carcinoma tissues is associated with poor prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: This work focused on investigating the relation of centromeric protein A (CENPA) gene expression with prognosis of papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC). METHODS: We obtained data from PRCC cases in TCGA. Thereafter, CENPA levels between the paired PRCC and matched non-carcinoma samples were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank-sum test, while the relations of clinicopathological characteristics with CENPA level were examined by logistic regression and Wilcoxon rank-sum test. The prognostic value of CENPA was assessed by plotting the receiver operating feature curve (ROC) and calculating the value of area under curve (AUC). In addition, relations between clinicopathological characteristics and PRCC survival were analyzed through Kaplan-Meier (KM) and Cox regression analyses. After dividing the total number of patients into the trial cohort and the validation cohort in a ratio of 7:3, we constructed a nomogram in trial cohort according to multivariate Cox regression results for predicting how CENPA affected patient survival and used the calibration curve to verify its accuracy in both cohorts. We also determined CENPA levels within cancer and matched non-carcinoma samples through immunohistochemistry (IHC). Finally, we utilized functional enrichment for identifying key pathways related to differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PRCC cases with CENPA up-regulation and down-regulation. RESULTS: CENPA expression enhanced in PRCC tissues compared with healthy counterparts (P < 0.001). CENPA up-regulation was related to pathological TNM stage and clinical stage (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the ROC curves indicated that CENPA had a remarkable diagnostic capacity for PRCC, and the expression of CENPA can significantly improve the predictive accuracy of pathological TNM stage and clinical stage for PRCC. As revealed by KM curves, PRCC cases with CENPA up-regulation were associated with poor survival compared with those with CENPA down-regulation (Risk ratio, RR = 3.07, 95% CI: 1.58-5.97, P = 0.001). In the meantime, univariate as well as multivariate analysis showed an independent association of CENPA with overall survival (OS, P < 0.05) and the nomogram demonstrated superior predictive ability in both cohorts. IHC analysis indicated that PRCC cases showed an increased CENPA positive rate compared with controls. As revealed by functional annotations, CENPA was enriched into pathways associated with neuroactive ligand receptor interactions, cytokine receptor interactions, extracellular matrix regulators, extracellular matrix glycoproteins and nuclear matrisome. CONCLUSION: CENPA expression increases within PRCC samples, which predicts dismal PRCC survival. CENPA may become a molecular prognostic marker and therapeutic target for PRCC patients.

Identification of a chromatin regulator signature and potential prognostic ability for adrenocortical carcinoma.

Objective: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignant tumor. Chromatin regulators (CRs) can drive epigenetic changes, which have been considered as one of the most vital hallmarks of tumors. This study aimed to explore the CR signature for ACC in order to clarify the molecular basis of ACC's pathogenic mechanism and provide novel methods to diagnose and treat ACC clinically. Methods: This study obtained transcriptome sequencing datasets of ACC patients and sequencing data on normal adrenal tissues in TCGA and GTEx databases, respectively. Meanwhile, prognostic genes were selected through Lasso and Cox regression analyses. Using the transcriptome sequencing datasets of ACC patients downloaded from the GEO database to finish validation, we performed Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis for evaluating the differential survival between low- and high-risk groups. Then, this work constructed the risk model for predicting ACC prognosis. TIMER 2.0 was employed to assess the differences in immune infiltration between the two groups. Furthermore, this work adopted the R package "pRRophetic" for exploring and estimating the sensitivity of patients to different chemotherapeutic agents. Results: A 5-CR model was established to predict ACC survival, and the CR signature was confirmed as a factor in order to independently predict ACC patient prognosis. In addition, a nomogram composed of the risk score and clinical T stage performed well in the prediction of patients' prognosis. Differentially expressed CRs (DECRs) were mostly associated with the cell cycle, base excision repair, colon cancer, gene duplication, homologous recombination, and other signaling pathways for the high-risk group. As for the low-risk group, DECRs were mainly enriched in allograft rejection, drug metabolism of cytochrome P450, metabolism of xenogeneic organisms by cytochrome P450, retinol metabolism, and other signaling pathways. According to TIMER analysis, the immune infiltration degrees of endothelial cells, M2 macrophages, myeloid dendritic cells, CD4+ Th1 cells, NKT cells, and M0 macrophages showed significant statistical differences between the high- and low-risk groups, and high infiltration levels of M0 and M2 macrophages were more pronounced in higher T stage (T3 and T4), N stage (N1), and clinical stages (III and IV). In addition, high-risk cases exhibited higher sensitivity to etoposide and doxorubicin. Additionally, low-risk patients had significantly decreased expression of RRM1 compared with high-risk cases, suggesting the better effect of mitotane treatment. Conclusion: This study identified the DECRs, which might be related to ACC genesis and progression. The pathways enriched by these DECRs were screened, and these DECRs were verified with excellent significance for estimating ACC survival. Drug sensitivity analysis also supported the current clinical treatment plan. Moreover, this study will provide reliable ideas and evidence for diagnosing and treating ACC in the clinic.

Exploration of Core Genes in ACTH-Independent Macronodular Adrenal Hyperplasia.

This study explores the core genes involved in the pathogenesis of ACTH-independent macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (AIMAH), so as to provide robust biomarkers for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was used to obtain GSE25031 microarray dataset. R package "limma" was applied to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between AIMAH and normal samples. The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) was employed to perform Gene Ontology (GO) annotation for the DEGs, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was conducted. A protein-protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed using the STRING online website and visualized using the Cytoscape software. The key modules and hub genes were then identified. Finally, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GESA) enrichment analysis was carried out to find the signaling pathways of significant clinical value in AIMAH. A total of 295 DEGs between AIMAH and healthy samples were screened out, including 164 upregulated genes and 131 downregulated genes. Combining enrichment analysis and PPI network construction, there were 5 signifiant pathways and 10 hub genes, among which 3 genes (FOS, FOSB, and DUSP1) were identified as potential core genes of clinical significance in AIMAH. In conclusion, the 3 core genes, FOS, FOSB, and DUSP1, identified here might be potential biomarkers for AIMAH, and the current study is of guiding significance for clinical diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Long-term outcomes of staged Gamma Knife radiosurgery for giant cavernous sinus hemangiomas: a single-center retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Cavernous sinus hemangiomas (CSHs) are rare benign tumors originating from the cavernous sinus. Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has been recommended as a primary treatment for small- to medium-sized CSHs. The optimal treatment for giant CSHs is still controversial. In this study, the authors retrospectively reviewed the effectiveness and safety of staged GKRS treatment for giant CSHs. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with giant CSH who received staged GKRS treatment in the Gamma Knife Treatment Center of Henan Province during the period from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2018, were enrolled in this study. Six patients had received microsurgery before GKRS, the other 16 patients were diagnosed according to clinical symptoms and MR images. All of the enrolled patients received 2-stage GKRS, and the mean interval between the two GKRS treatments was 6.5 months (range 6-12 months). For the first GKRS, the median isodose line was 48% (range 45%-50%), the median marginal dose was 13 Gy (range 11.5-14 Gy), and the median coverage of CSHs was 80% (range 70%-88%). For the second GKRS treatment, the median isodose line was 50% (range 45%-55%), the median marginal dose to the CSHs was 10.5 Gy (range 9-12.5 Gy), and the median coverage of the CSHs was 88% (range 80%-94%). RESULTS: All of the patients received an outpatient review of an enhanced MR image of the head and a clinical physical check every 6 months after the first GKRS treatment. The mean follow-up duration was 52 months (range 24-84 months). The tumor control rate was 100% 24 months after staged GKRS, and at the last follow-up the mean tumor shrinkage rate was 96.7% (range 90.6%-100%) and the mean residual CSH volume was 2.1 ml (range 0-8.5 ml). Twenty patients suffered central nervous system (CNS) injury symptoms to varying degrees before staged GKRS treatment. Complete symptom recovery was found in 11 (55%) patients, improved symptoms in 5 (25%) patients, and no change in 4 (20%) patients after treatment. Only 1 patient suffered temporary preexisting headache aggravation and 1 patient suffered temporary preexisting diplopia aggravation 1 week after receiving the first GKRS treatment. Subacute or chronic complications were not detected after staged GKRS. CONCLUSIONS: Staged GKRS is an effective treatment for giant CSHs. Because of the impressively low incidence of adverse effects, staged GKRS may be considered as a primary treatment for giant CSHs.

Methylation dependent microRNA 1285-5p and sterol carrier proteins 2 in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the severe metabolic diseases found in all types of people's lives in lower, middle and high income countries. It is suggested that the prevalence of diabetes is increasing in many countries and most of the cases are type 2 DM, clinical treatments are changing now to manage type 2 DM, however, up-to-date, there is no diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic target for type 2 DM. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) is one of a non-protein coding RNAs that have been regulating a wide range cellular processes and induce the development of many diseases. Most of the researchers concluded that miRNAs involvement is an important process in a broad range of signaling pathways such as cell proliferation, stem cell maintenance, migration, apoptosis and gene or protein expressions. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are the best source of coding and non-coding sequences for the identification of miRNAs. Although DNA methylation is an important mechanism for miRNAs up-regulation, this has not been highly explored in type 2 DM. The present study is useful to elucidate the molecular mechanism of MiR-1285-5p in type 2 DM and its role in disease progression and we discovered miR-1285 as a novel prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic target for type 2 DM.

[Cell proteins that potentially interact with HBV polymerase were identified by co-immunoprecipitation-based LC-MS/MS identification and IPA].

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease, and frequently results in hepatitis, cirrhosis, and ultimately hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV polymerase (Pol) is an essential viral protein that is important for HBV replication and might be involved in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Protein-protein interactions appears to be crucial for its role. The aim of this study was to screen and identify the proteins that interact with Pol using a co-immunoprecipitation-based LC-MS/MS identification technique. The HBV Pol gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cloned into pCDNA3.1(+). The recombinant plasmid pCDNA3. 1(+)-Pol-flag was transfected into HeLa cells. Liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identified 45 proteins that co-immunoprecipitated with flag-tagged HBV Pol. Eleven of these have previously been reported as proteins that interact with HBV Pol. A proof-of-concept-based Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA, www.ingenuity.com) was used to characterize the functions and pathways of these 45 identified proteins and HBV Pol. Among these proteins, four proteins may play a role in three major molecular cellular networks, and are therefore worthy of further investigation.

Enhanced immune response of a bicistronic DNA vaccine expressing fusion antigen Hsp65-Esat-6 of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis with GM-CSF as a molecular adjuvant

This study aimed to construct a bicistronic DNA vaccine expressing fusion antigen Hsp65-Esat-6 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with cytokine GM-CSF as a molecular adjuvant (pIRES-Hsp65-ESAT-6-GM-CSF, pIRHEG), and the immune response in mice. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with the recombinant plasmid to detect the titer of antibodies, lymphocyte proliferation, the ratio of CD4+, CD8+T cell and IFN ~ γﻌIL-2 secretion. The titer of antibody, lymphocyte proliferation, the ratio of CD4+T and CD8+T cells and IFN ~ γ, IL-2 secretion of pIRHEG group was significant higher than other recombinant plasmid groups, which significant differed by statistical mean. The bicistronic DNA vaccine could induce an effective immune response in mice and could be used as vital ingredient of a new tuberculosis vaccine candidate.

Construction and expression of a recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid containing the preS1-preS2-S genes of hepatitis B virus and the granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor gene: A study of its immunomodulatory effects.

A total of 10-20% of the population remains unresponsive or weakly responsive to hepatitis B vaccine, which is composed of hepatitis B surface antigen HBsAg (S protein). Therefore, it is necessary to develop a hepatitis B vaccine with a better penetrating and responsive rate. In the present study, a plasmid pVAX1-L-GM was constructed and its immunomodulatory effect of as hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA vaccine was analyzed through the immunization of BALB/c mice. Immune responses were measured after immunization by anti-HBsAg, proliferation of splenocytes, the number of CD4+ and CD8+ molecules, CTL cytotoxicity, cytokines of IFN-γ and IL-2 secretion assays. Following the immunization, mice in the pVAX1-L-GM group produced antibody 2 weeks earlier compared to the control plasmid pVAX1 and pVAX1HBsAg groups and antibody levels showed significant differences. Enhanced HBsAg-specific splenocyte proliferation as well as specific cytotoxic activities of splenic CTLs were also detected. Furthermore, pVAX1-L-GM plasmid increased the number of CD4+ and CD8+ molecules on the surface of the spleen T cell and the level of IFN-γ, IL-2 secretion. pVAX1-L-GM induced a specific immune response in mice and enhanced the immune effect. Thus, a foundation was laid for developing immunogenicity of a better prevention and treatment of HBV via a hepatitis B vaccine.

[Identification of ubiquitously expressed transcript as the potential interactor of hepatitis B virus polymerase].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the function of hepatitis B virus polymerase (HBV Pol) in the viral life cycle by screening the proteins interacting with HBV polymerase. METHODS: The HBV Pol gene was constructed into the pGBKT7 vector. GAL4 yeast two-hybrid system was used to screen the human liver cDNA library to obtain proteins which interacted with HBV Pol. GST-pull down assay was applied to confirm the protein interactions. RESULTS: Ubiquitously expressed transcript (UXT) was selected by the yeast two-hybrid system. GST-pull down assay confirmed the in vitro interaction between HBV Pol and UXT. CONCLUSIONS: UXT is a potential interactor of HBV Pol, and this protein interaction may provide clues of the function of HBV Pol in HBV life cycle.

Construction of a fusion expression plasmid containing the G250 gene and human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and its significance in renal cell carcinoma.

This study aimed to construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing the G250/MN/CA IX (G250) and human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) genes, and to detect the expression of these proteins in vitro by recombinant plasmids in eukaryotic cells. pORF-hGM-CSF and pcDNA3.0-G250 were used as the template to amplify G250 and hGM-CSF by routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The two PCR products were cloned into the eukaryotic vector pVAX1, in order to construct a recombinant plasmid pVAX1-G250-hGM, and the plasmid was transfected into human embryonic kidney 293 cells. The protein expression was then determined by immunocytochemistry, atomic force microscopy, ELISA and Western blotting. DNA sequencing showed that the cloned G250 and hGM-CSF sequences were consistent with the reported Gene Bank ones. Moreover, a high expression was noted following recombinant plasmid transfection of the G250 and hGM-CSF proteins. Thus, the eukaryotic expression vector pVAX1-G250-hGM containing G250 and hGM-CSF was constructed, allowing for the investigation of the anti-G250 antigen vaccine and immune response mechanisms of biological immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma.

Cloning of a fusion gene containing hGM-CSF gene and gene encoding L protein of HBV and expression in Pichia Pastoris.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To construct the yeast expression vector containing cDNA sequence coding L protein of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (hGM-CSF), and to explore the method of secretory expression in Pichia Pastoris GS115 strain. METHODS: We used pVAX1-L-hGM as template to amplify L-hGM gene by PCR, and then the PCR products were cloned into the yeast expression vector pPICZaC with DNA recombination method. After linearized by Sac I, the recombinant plasmid pPICZa C-L-hGM was transformed into Pichia Pastoris GS115 by electrophoresis. The expressing protein was induced by methanol. SDS-PAGE and Western blot were used to analyze the expression of protein. RESULTS: DNA sequence analysis revealed that the constructed genes sequences were totally consistent with the GeneBank reported. The results of SDS-PAGE and Western blot showed that the recombinant protein was induced by methanol and stably expressed in Pichia Pastoris. CONCLUSIONS: The successful construction of a recombinant yeast expression vector containing gene coding L protein of Hepatitis B virus and hGM-CSF gene, and expressed in Pichia Pastoris, of which lays a foundation for the further researches on a better protective HB vaccine.

[Effect of cell surface sialic acid and their linkages on adhesion of mammary carcinoma cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of cell surface sialic acid and its linkage on the cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion of mammary carcinoma cells MD-MB-435. METHODS: MD-MB-435 cells were sense-transfected with ST6Gal I cDNA or antisense-transfected with part of the ST6Gal I sequence inserted in pcDNA 3.1 vector, with mock transfection with pcDNA3.1 vector as the control. The cell surface alpha2, 6-linked sialylation was determined by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) using lectin SNA (Sambucus nigra agglutinin specific to alpha2, 6-linked sialic acid on N-linked glycoprotein). A significantly increased alpha2, 6-sialylation subclone in sense-transfectants and a decreased alpha2, 6-sialylation subclone in antisense-transfectants were selected for further examination of cell-cell and cell-matrix (collagen IV) adhesion. The transfectants were also treated with sialidase to compare the capacity of cell adhesion affected by cell surface sialylation. RESULTS: Sense-transfection subclone showed a reduced cell-cell aggregation but enhanced cell-matrix adhesion. In contrast, the antisense-transfection subclone exhibited increased cell-cell aggregation and decreased cell-matrix adhesion. After treatment with sialidase, the cell-matrix adhesion of all the transfectants and the parental MDA-MB-435 cells were significantly reduced to the level of 31%-57% of untreated cells. CONCLUSION: Cell surface sialic acid and alpha2, 6-linked sialylation play an important role in cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion of mammary carcinoma cell MDA-MB-435.

[Expression and identification of HCV core protein in human hepatocytes].

AIM: To construct the recombinant plasmid of HCV core protein, and to express and identify it in normal human hepatocyte HL-7702. METHODS: HCV core gene was cloned by using PCR from plasmid pBRTM/HCV1-3011 which included the full length of HCV gene. The core segment with expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-) was recombined to construct eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)/core, which was then transfected into human hepatocytes by using poly-cation. The expression of core protein was detected by immunochemical staining and Western blot. RESULTS: The length and sequence of the cloned core segment were correct. The transfected HL-7702 cells expressed the core protein. CONCLUSION: The eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)/core including HCV core gene is successfully constructed. The effective expression of HCV core protein in human hepatocytes is useful for further development of HCV core antigen.