Production of two phosphoproteins from the NS5A region of the hepatitis C viral genome.

Hepatitis C virus produces about 12 viral proteins by proteolytic cleavage of the viral polyprotein precursor produced from the largest open reading frame in the viral genome. We have analyzed the production of viral nonstructural proteins with an in vivo transient expression system using COS-1 cells. Two proteins, a 56-kDa protein and a 58-kDa protein, were produced from the nonstructural region 5A (NS5A), which has the potential to produce a 49 kDa protein. We showed that these proteins are phosphorylated at the serine residues. The presence of the two proteins was reflected by different degrees of phosphorylation. Moreover, the hyper-phosphorylation of p58 was shown to depend on the presence of NS4A, another hepatitis C virus protein.