Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) protects hepatocytes from thapsigargin-induced cell death.

<p>HepG2 control (A) and HepG2-NS5A (B) cell lines were cultured for 48 h with thapsigargin at 0, 1×10⁻⁴, 1×10⁻³, 1×10⁻², 1×10⁻¹, and 1 µM. Cells were washed and stained with crystal violet. (C), (D) HCV NS5A protects hepatocytes from thapsigargin-induced apoptosis. HepG2 control and HepG2-NS5A cells were cultured for 24 h with thapsigargin at 0, 1×10⁻¹, and 1 µM. Apoptosis was evaluated using the APOPercentage Apoptosis Assay. Purple-red stained cells were identified as apoptotic cells by light microscopy. The number of purple-red cells/300 cells was counted. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. *<i>P<0.05.</i>