Volume 128, Issue 2, Pages 334-342 (February 2005) Impaired expression of the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor alpha during hepatitis C virus infection  Sébastien Dharancy, Mathilde Malapel, Gabriel Perlemuter, Tania Roskams, Yang Cheng, Laurent Dubuquoy, Philippe Podevin, Filoména Conti, Valérie Canva, David Philippe, Luc Gambiez, Philippe Mathurin, Jean-Claude Paris, Kristina Schoonjans, Yvon Calmus, Stanislas Pol, Johan Auwerx, Pierre Desreumaux  Gastroenterology  Volume 128, Issue 2, Pages 334-342 (February 2005) DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016 Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Impaired expression of PPARα and CPT1A mRNAs in HCV-infected patients compared with controls using real-time reverse-transcription PCR. Hepatic concentrations of the (A) PPARα and (B) CPT1A mRNAs in human liver samples taken from patients with chronic hepatitis C (■) and controls (□) using a real-time reverse-transcription PCR technique. Mean ± SEM are indicated as well as statistical significance. Gastroenterology 2005 128, 334-342DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016) Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions

Figure 2 Hepatic expression of nuclear receptor proteins in livers of HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis and controls. Quantification by Western blot of nuclear receptors in surgical liver specimens of HCV-infected patients and controls. (A) Lower concentration of PPARα protein in the liver of HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis compared with controls. (B–D) Concentrations of PPARγ, RXRα, and LXRα were similar in HCV-infected patients compared with controls. The upper lane of each histogram is a representative Western blot gel of nuclear receptor immunodetection. Gastroenterology 2005 128, 334-342DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016) Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions

Figure 3 Representative PPARα immunostainings in liver sections of controls and HCV-infected patients. (A–D) Control livers. A PPARα staining was observed in most hepatocytes of control livers. At higher magnification, (C) hepatic stellate cells (arrows) and (D) ductal biliary cells (arrows) in a portal tract also were stained positively with the PPARα antibody. (E–G) HCV-infected livers. (E) The number of PPARα-stained hepatocytes was decreased markedly in patients with mild hepatitis. (F) Only weak PPARα staining in hepatocytes was observed in HCV-infected livers of patients with severe hepatitis, contrasting with the conservation of PPARα stainings in (E–G) ductal biliary cells (arrows) and (F, G) stellate cells (arrows). (H) Negative control using an irrelevant antibody. Levels of magnification are indicated in each figure. Gastroenterology 2005 128, 334-342DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016) Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions

Figure 4 Quantification of nuclear receptor mRNA in core-expressing HepG2 cells. (A) PPARα, (B) RXRα, (C) LXRα, and (D) PPARγ mRNAs were quantified by real-time PCR in transfected HepG2 cells constitutively expressing the HCV core protein (■) compared with the control SWX clone (□) transfected with the empty vector at the same passage. All quantifications were performed in triplicate samples for 3 separate experiments. Compared with SWX control cells, a lower expression of PPARα mRNA was observed in core-expressing HepG2 cells, whereas RXRα, LXRα, and PPARγ mRNA concentrations remained unchanged. Statistical significance is indicated. (A) *P < .05. Gastroenterology 2005 128, 334-342DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016) Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions

Figure 5 Kinetics of CPT1A mRNA production in core-expressing HepG2 cells stimulated by fenofibric acid. Relative induction of CPT1A mRNA in core-expressing HepG2 cells (clones N3 and N4) compared with control cells (SWX) after 4 and 8 hours of fenofibric acid exposure (.25 mmol/L). Results are expressed as the mean relative induction rate ± SEM, n = 3 independent experiments. ■, SWX; ♦, N4; •, N3. Gastroenterology 2005 128, 334-342DOI: (10.1053/j.gastro.2004.11.016) Copyright © 2005 American Gastroenterological Association Terms and Conditions