HCV E2 protein inhibits NFAT nuclear translocation.

<p>Dephosphorylation (A) and nuclear translocation (B) of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) in Jurkat control cells or HCV E2 expressing cells as determined by immunoblot. The nuclear transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) served as the loading control for nuclear localization. P+I mediated IL-2 was release from primary healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) incubated with serum obtained from HCV positive (HCV+) humans infected with genotype (GT; 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 2b, and 3) HCV negative (HCV-) human subjects (C1-C4) (C) or cell-culture derived HCV particles (HCVcc) and retroviral particles pseudotyped with HCV envelope (E1-E2; HCVpps) or with HCV envelope containing the Y613F mutation (HCVpp Y613F) (D). US = unstimulated, and S = stimulated (no serum). Data represent the average of three technical replicates and the standard deviation is shown. Each experiment was repeated with three donors with consistent results *<i>P</i>< 0.01.