- 现金
- 62111 元
- 精华
- 26
- 帖子
- 30437
- 注册时间
- 2009-10-5
- 最后登录
- 2022-12-28
|
Hepatitis B virus X gene mutants emerge during antiviral therapy and increase cccDNA levels to compensate for replication suppression
Chih-Lang Lin, Rong-Nan Chien, Yu-De Chu, Kung-Hao Liang, Ya-Hui Huang, Po-Yuan Ke, Kwang-Huei Lin, Yang-Hsiang Lin & Chau-Ting Yeh
Hepatology International volume 14, pages973–984(2020)Cite this article
327 Accesses
1 Citations
Metrics details
Abstract
Background
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) X gene (HBx) mutants can develop during the natural course of chronic HBV infection. However, little is known about whether the emergence of HBx mutants during long-term antiviral therapy is an adaptation of HBV to antiviral stress. This study was to identify HBx mutants that emerged in patients experiencing Lamivudine resistance or suboptimal treatment.
Methods
Forty-six Lamivudine-resistant patients and 46 patients with suboptimal treatment responses to Entecavir were enrolled in this study. HBx mutants were identified by sequence analysis and their roles in the HBV replication cycle were characterized.
Results
We show that deletion/truncation/insertion mutations were only detected in the Lamivudine resistance group, while synonymous mutations were found in both groups. Follow-up analyses revealed that five patients in the Lamivudine group developed hepatocellular carcinoma, while patients in the Entecavir group did not. These mutants were characterized by a significant decrease in transactivation of the pre-S1 promoter, and varying effects on transactivation of the X promoter. Co-transfection of HBx-mutant plasmid and HBV replication-competent clone into HepG2 cells resulted in increased nuclear-to-cytoplamic HBV core antigen, HBV-DNA ratios, and nuclear covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Antiviral drug sensitivity assays revealed that these mutants exhibited a compensatory effect to counteract antiviral drug suppression, resulting in elevated secretory HBV-DNA levels.
Conclusions
Our study demonstrates that HBx mutants can emerge during Lamivudine or Entecavir therapy. These mutants exhibit altered transactivation of the HBV pre-S1 and X promoters, leading to increased cccDNA levels to compensate for replication suppression.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.
Abbreviations
HBx:
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) X gene
cccDNA:
Nuclear covalently closed circular DNA
HBV:
Hepatitis B virus
HCC:
Hepatocellular carcinoma
LAM:
Lamivudine
ETV:
Entecavir
Ct-HBx:
C-terminally truncated HBx
HBsAg:
Hepatitis B surface antigen
PC:
Core promoter (PC)
PS1:
Pre-S1 promoter
PS2:
Pre-S2/S promoter
PX:
X promoter
References |
|