Apolipoprotein B100 is required for hepatitis C infectivity and Mipomersen inhibits hepatitis C

Figure 5 Hepatitis C virus produced by APOB KO cells has a fundamentally altered lipidome. A: The concentrations of apoB and apoE were determined of the viral supernatant using ELISA. ApoB levels were barely detected in the viral supernatant of the KO cells. ApoE concentrations were also found to be lower in KO compared to the WT cells; B: Hepatitis C virus (HCV)cc generated in APOB KO cells has an altered lipidome. Using a Jc1E2FLAG HCV tissue culture fully infectious virus, viral particles were purified using affinity purification particles were extracted and the lipidome was purified using liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry (LC-MS). LC-MS demonstrated that the viral particles generated in the APOB knockout cells are completely depleted in cholesterol esters. CE: Cholesterol and cholesterol esters; TAG: Triacylglycerols; DAG: Diacylglycerols; SM: Sphingomyelins; PC: Phosphatidylcholines; LPE: Lysophosphatidylethanolamines; LPC: Lysophosphatidylcholines.