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The C-terminal region of the hepatitis B virus X protein is essential for its stability and function
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The C-terminal region of the hepatitis B virus X protein is essential for its stability and function

Rebecca A Lizzano, Bei Yang, Amy J Clippinger and Michael J Bouchard
Virus research, v 155(1)
2011
PMID: 20969903
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2010.10.013View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

HBx protein Hepatitis B virus C-terminal truncations
More than 350 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the human hepatitis B virus (HBV). Chronic HBV infections are associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. While the mechanism of HBV-associated carcinoma remains undefined, it is thought to involve a combination of a continuous inflammatory response to HBV-infected hepatocytes and activities of HBV proteins such as the HBV X protein (HBx). HBx stimulates HBV replication; however, the mechanism by which HBx stimulates HBV replication remains incompletely understood. Studies performed with the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) in woodchucks demonstrated that a C-terminally truncated mutant of the WHV X protein could not stimulate WHV replication. However, whether the C-terminus of HBx is important for HBx-stimulation of HBV replication is unclear. We have constructed C-terminal truncation mutants of HBx and have demonstrated that the C-terminus of HBx impacts HBx stability, HBx activation of transcription, and HBx stimulation of HBV replication. These observations highlight the impact of the HBx C-terminus on HBx activities and the importance of directly analyzing HBx expression and functions in HBV-associated tumors that contain chromosomal integrants of HBV with truncations of the HBx gene.

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Virology
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