Figure 1.

Model of HCV apoptotic signaling pathways. HCV induces infected hepatocytes to apoptosis. Death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathway is enforced by mitochondrial amplification loop. Oxidative and ER stress with apoptosis are also shown, which reflect a potential interaction between the host cell response and apoptosis. Stress pathways are converged at the nucleus and low levels of NF-κB and BCL-xL sensitize hepatocytes to apoptosis. Lines with arrows denote an activating reaction; red lines ending in perpendicular lines denote inhibition of the reaction