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Hou L, Zhao J, Cai L, Jin L, Liu B, Li S, Yang J, Ji T, Li S, Shi L, Shen B, Yu H, Wang Y, Cai X. HBV PreC interacts with SUV39H1 to induce viral replication by blocking the proteasomal degradation of viral polymerase. J Med Virol 2024; 96:e29607. [PMID: 38628076 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.29607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seropositivity during the natural history of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is known to coincide with significant increases in serum and intrahepatic HBV DNA levels. However, the precise underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we found that PreC (HBeAg precursor) genetic ablation leads to reduced viral replication both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, PreC impedes the proteasomal degradation of HBV polymerase, promoting viral replication. We discovered that PreC interacts with SUV39H1, a histone methyltransferase, resulting in a reduction in the expression of Cdt2, an adaptor protein of CRL4 E3 ligase targeting HBV polymerase. SUV39H1 induces H3K9 trimethylation of the Cdt2 promoter in a PreC-induced manner. CRISPR-mediated knockout of endogenous SUV39H1 or pharmaceutical inhibition of SUV39H1 decreases HBV loads in the mouse liver. Additionally, genetic depletion of Cdt2 in the mouse liver abrogates PreC-related HBV replication. Interestingly, a negative correlation of intrahepatic Cdt2 with serum HBeAg and HBV DNA load was observed in CHB patient samples. Our study thus sheds light on the mechanistic role of PreC in inducing HBV replication and identifies potential therapeutic targets for HBV treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidan Hou
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie Zhao
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Liuxin Cai
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ling Jin
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Boqiang Liu
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shijie Li
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jin Yang
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tong Ji
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Songyi Li
- Animal Center, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Liang Shi
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hong Yu
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yifan Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiujun Cai
- Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Medical Research Center of Minimally Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Abdominal Diseases, Hangzhou, China
- National Engineering Research Center of Innovation and Application of Minimally Invasive Instruments, Hangzhou, China
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Research Progress on the Mechanism of Persistent Low-Level HBsAg Expression in the Serum of Patients with Chronic HBV Infection. J Immunol Res 2022; 2022:1372705. [PMID: 35465353 PMCID: PMC9020929 DOI: 10.1155/2022/1372705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Among HBV-infected persons, there is a group of people with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) showing persistently low levels of expression. The production of low-level HBsAg does not mean a good outcome of chronic HBV infection. Patients still have virus replication and sustained liver damage, and they have the potential to transmit the infection. This risk poses a challenge to clinical diagnosis and blood transfusion safety and is a major concern of experts. However, the mechanism behind persistent low-level HBsAg expression in serum is not completely clear, and complete virus clearance by the host is vital. In this review, we summarize the research progress on the mechanism behind low-level expression of HBsAg in patients with chronic HBV infection in recent years.
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Lv X, Xiang X, Wu Y, Liu Y, Xu R, Xiang Q, Lai G. GATA binding protein 4 promotes the expression and transcription of hepatitis B virus by facilitating hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha in vitro. Virol J 2021; 18:196. [PMID: 34583732 PMCID: PMC8479913 DOI: 10.1186/s12985-021-01668-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background GATA binding protein 4 (GATA4) has been reported as a potential target of gene therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is well known that the main cause of HCC is the chronic infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV). However, whether the effect of GATA4 on HBV has not yet been reported. Methods In this study, the regulation of GATA4 on HBV was analyzed in vitro. In turn, the effect of HBV on GATA4 was also observed in vitro, in vivo, and clinical HCC patients. Subsequently, we analyzed whether the effect of GATA4 on HBV was related to hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) in vitro. Results The results showed that GATA4 significantly promoted the secretion of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV e antigen in the cell culture medium, improved the replication of HBV genomic DNA, and increased the level of HBV 3.5 kb pre-genomic RNA and HBV total RNA (P < 0.05). Moreover, it was showed that HBV had no significant effect on GATA4 in vitro and in vivo (P > 0.05). At the same time, GATA4 expression was decreased in 78.9% (15/19) of HCC patients regardless of the HBV and HBsAg status. Among them, there were 76.9% (10/13) in HBV-associated patients with HCC (HBV-HCC), and 83.3% (5/6) in non-HBV-HCC patients. In addition, the expression of HNF4α was also up-regulated or down-regulated accordingly when stimulating or interfering with the expression of GATA4. Furthermore, stimulating the expression of HNF4α could only alleviate the HBsAg level and HBV transcription levels, but had no significant effect on GATA4. Conclusions In summary, this study found that GATA4 has a positive effect on HBV, and the potential pathway may be related to another transcription factor HNF4α that regulates HBV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqin Lv
- Laboratory Animal Center of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1, Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016, China
| | - Xia Xiang
- Laboratory Animal Center of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1, Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016, China
| | - Yue Wu
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 40010, China
| | - Yang Liu
- LuXian No. 2 High School, Sichuan, 646100, China
| | - Ruqing Xu
- Laboratory Animal Center of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1, Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016, China
| | - Qin Xiang
- Molecular Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, China
| | - Guoqi Lai
- Laboratory Animal Center of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1, Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016, China.
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