Fig. 5.
Celastrol suppresses HCV protease activity via upregulating HO-1 activity. (A) Celastrol inhibits HCV protease activity. Ava5 cells were transfected with pEG(DE4AB)SEAP and pNS3/4 followed by 0, 0.05, 0.1, or 0.2 μM of celastrol for 3 days. The 0.6 μM telaprevir treatment server as the positive control. EGFP activity served as the internal control, and SEAP activity represented HCV NS3/4A protease activity. (B) HO-1 inhibitor attenuates the inhibitory effect of celastrol on HCV protease activity. Ava5 cells were transfected with pEG(DE4AB)SEAP and pNS3/4 followed by 0.5 μM of celastrol and the indicated concentrations of SnMP for 3 days. The 0.6 μM telaprevir treatment server as the positive control. EGFP activity served as the internal control, and SEAP activity represented HCV NS3/4A protease activity. Error bars denote the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05.