Complex formation of the nonstructural protein 3 of hepatitis C virus with the p53 tumor suppressor.

By co-immunoprecipitation analysis, we demonstrated that wt-p53 formed a complex with non-structural protein (NS) 3 of hepatitis C virus, both in the absence and the presence of NS4A, a viral cofactor that strongly associates with NS3. Deletional analysis revealed that a portion near the N-terminus of NS3 (amino acids (aa) 1055 and 1200), which is different from the NS4A binding site, was necessary for the complex formation with wt-p53. On the other hand, a portion near the C-terminus of wt-p53 (aa 301-360), which has been reported to contain the oligomerization domain, was important for the complex formation with NS3.