sars-cov-2 orf9b dysregulate fibrinogen and albumin genes in a liver cell line

Background: individuals experiencing severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) exhibited elevated fibrinogen levels and decreased albumin levels, potentially linked to the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2) proteins. consequently, our study endeavors to examine the impact of sars-cov-2 orf9b on the expression of fibrinogen and albumin genes within the hep-g2 cell line.methods: in this study, the hep-g2 liver cell line was utilized alongside the plasmid pcdna3.1 hyg+ containing orf9b from the sars-cov-2 strain originating in wuhan. transfection procedures were executed, and the transfected cells were selected utilizing hygromycin b. validation of orf9b expression was conducted through sybr green-based real-time pcr, and the expression of the fibrinogen α (fga), fibrinogen β (fgb), fibrinogen γ (fgg), and albumin (alb) genes was quantified using the same method.results: the real-time pcr analysis revealed a significant upregulation of fibrinogen genes—α (p=0.03), β (p=0.02), and γ (p=0.029) in hep-g2 cells containing orf9b compared to control cells. furthermore, the findings indicated a markedly lower expression level of albumin in hep-g2 cells harboring orf9b compared to the control cells (p=0.028).conclusion: the findings suggest that sars-cov-2 orf9b could potentially influence the course of sars-cov-2 infection by triggering the expression of α, β, and γ fibrinogen gene chains while suppressing the albumin gene. further investigations are warranted to validate these observations across various sars-cov-2 strains exhibiting differing levels of pathogenicity.