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Wang Q, Qin Y, Zhang J, Jia L, Fu S, Wang Y, Li J, Tong S. Tracing the evolutionary history of hepadnaviruses in terms of e antigen and middle envelope protein expression or processing. Virus Res 2019; 276:197825. [PMID: 31785305 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2019.197825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the prototype of hepadnaviruses, which can be subgrouped into orthohepadnaviruses infecting mammals, avihehepadnaviruses of birds, metahepadnaviruses of fish, and herpetohepadnaviruses of amphibians and reptiles. The middle (M) envelope protein and e antigen are new additions in the evolution of hepadnaviruses. They are alternative translation products of the transcripts for small (S) envelope and core proteins, respectively. For HBV, e antigen is converted from precore/core protein by removal of N-terminal signal peptide followed by furin-mediated cleavage of the basic C-terminus. This study compared old and newly discovered hepadnaviruses for their envelope protein and e antigen expression or processing. The S protein of bat hepatitis B virus (BHBV) and two metahepadnaviruses is probably myristoylated, in addition to two avihepadnaviruses. While most orthohepadnaviruses express a functional M protein with N-linked glycosylation near the amino-terminus, most metahepadnaviruses and herpetohepadnaviruses probably do not. These viruses and one orthohepadnavirus, the shrew hepatitis B virus, lack an open precore region required for e antigen expression. Potential furin cleavage sites (RXXR sequence) can be found in e antigen precursors of orthohepadnaviruses and avihepadnaviruses. Despite much larger precore/core proteins of avihepadnaviruses and their limited sequence homology with those of orthohepadnaviruses, their proximal RXXR motif can be aligned with a distal RXXR motif for orthohepadnaviruses. Thus, furin or another basic endopeptidase is probably the shared enzyme for hepadnaviral e antigen maturation. A precore-derived cysteine residue is involved in forming intramolecular disulfide bond of HBV e antigen to prevent particle formation, and such a cysteine residue is conserved for both orthohepadnaviruses and avihepadnaviruses. All orthohepadnaviruses have an X gene, while all avihepadnaviruses can express the e antigen. M protein expression appears to be the most recent event in the evolution of hepadnaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianru Wang
- Department of Pathobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanli Qin
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Pathobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lucy Jia
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Shuwen Fu
- Department of Pathobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yongxiang Wang
- Department of Pathobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jisu Li
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Shuping Tong
- Department of Pathobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
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Characterization of genotype-specific carboxyl-terminal cleavage sites of hepatitis B virus e antigen precursor and identification of furin as the candidate enzyme. J Virol 2009; 83:3507-17. [PMID: 19193799 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02348-08] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is a secreted version of hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein that promotes immune tolerance and persistent infection. It is derived from a translation product of the precore/core gene by two proteolytic cleavage events: removal of the amino-terminal signal peptide and removal of the carboxyl-terminal arginine-rich sequence. Four RXXR motifs are present at the carboxyl terminus of the HBeAg precursor, with the first two fused as (151)RRGRSPR(157). Genotype A possesses two extra amino acids at the first motif ((151)RRDRGRSPR(159)), which weakens the first motif and separates it from the second one. Western blot analysis of patient sera revealed a single HBeAg form for genotypes B to D but two additional forms of larger sizes for genotype A. Site-directed mutagenesis and transfection experiments with human hepatoma cell lines indicated that HBeAg of genotype B is derived from cleavage at the first ((151)RRGR(154)) motif. The major HBeAg form of genotype A corresponds to cleavage at the second ((156)RSPR(159)) motif, and the other two forms are cleavage products of the first ((151)RRDR(154)) and third ((166)RRRR(169)) motifs, respectively. Only the cleavage product of the third motif of genotype A was observed in furin-deficient LoVo cells, and an inhibitor of furin-like proprotein convertases blocked cleavage of the first and second motifs in human hepatoma cells. In conclusion, our study reveals genotypic differences in HBeAg processing and implicates furin as the major enzyme involved in the cleavage of the first and second RXXR motifs.
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Guidotti LG, Chisari FV. Immunobiology and pathogenesis of viral hepatitis. ANNUAL REVIEW OF PATHOLOGY-MECHANISMS OF DISEASE 2007; 1:23-61. [PMID: 18039107 DOI: 10.1146/annurev.pathol.1.110304.100230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 567] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Among the many viruses that are known to infect the human liver, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are unique because of their prodigious capacity to cause persistent infection, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. HBV and HCV are noncytopathic viruses and, thus, immunologically mediated events play an important role in the pathogenesis and outcome of these infections. The adaptive immune response mediates virtually all of the liver disease associated with viral hepatitis. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that antigen-nonspecific inflammatory cells exacerbate cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-induced immunopathology and that platelets enhance the accumulation of CTLs in the liver. Chronic hepatitis is characterized by an inefficient T cell response unable to completely clear HBV or HCV from the liver, which consequently sustains continuous cycles of low-level cell destruction. Over long periods of time, recurrent immune-mediated liver damage contributes to the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca G Guidotti
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
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Carey I, Vergani D. The role of viral-specific immune responses on the outcome of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection in children: new insights into immunopathology. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2007; 45:15-8. [PMID: 17592359 DOI: 10.1097/mpg.0b013e31804a85e1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Guarnieri M, Kim KH, Bang G, Li J, Zhou Y, Tang X, Wands J, Tong S. Point mutations upstream of hepatitis B virus core gene affect DNA replication at the step of core protein expression. J Virol 2006; 80:587-95. [PMID: 16378961 PMCID: PMC1346833 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.80.2.587-595.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The pregenomic RNA directs replication of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome by serving both as the messenger for core protein and polymerase and as the genome precursor following its packaging into the core particle. RNA packaging is mediated by a stem-loop structure present at its 5' end designated the epsilon signal, which includes the core gene initiator AUG. The precore RNA has a slightly extended 5' end to cover the entire precore region and, consequently, directs the translation of a precore/core protein, which is secreted as e antigen (HBeAg) following removal of precore-derived signal peptide and the carboxyl terminus. A naturally occurring G1862T mutation upstream of the core AUG affects the bulge of the epsilon signal and generates a "forbidden" residue at the -3 position of the signal peptide cleavage site. Transfection of this and other mutants into human hepatoma cells failed to prove their inhibition of HBeAg secretion but rather revealed great impairment of genome replication. This replication defect was associated with reduced expression of core protein and could be overcome by a G1899A covariation, or by nonsense or frameshift mutation in the precore region. All these mutations antagonized the G1862T mutation on core protein expression. Cotransfection of the G1862T mutant with a replication-deficient HBV genome that provides core protein in trans also restored genome replication. Consistent with our findings in cell culture, HBV genotype A found in African/Asian patients has T1862 and is associated with much lower viremia titers than the European subgroup of genotype A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Guarnieri
- The Liver Research Center and Brown Medical School, Providence, RI 02903, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan F Wieland
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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Yuan HJ, Yuen MF, Ka-Ho Wong D, Sablon E, Lai CL. The relationship between HBV-DNA levels and cirrhosis-related complications in Chinese with chronic hepatitis B. J Viral Hepat 2005; 12:373-9. [PMID: 15985007 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2005.00603.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
We studied the hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA levels below which the development of cirrhosis-related complications became unlikely in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Seventy-nine Chinese CHB patients with cirrhosis-related complications and 158 age-, sex- and HBeAg status-matched patients without complications were enrolled. The precore and core promoter mutations were detected by the Line Probe assay (LiPA). HBVDNA levels were determined by Digene assay and Cobas Amplicor Monitor test. Patients with complications had higher HBVDNA levels than those without complications (P = 0.02). HBeAg-positive patients with complications had similar alanine transferase (ALT) and HBVDNA levels and frequency of precore mutations, but higher frequency of core promoter mutations (P = 0.003), compared with those without complications. Anti-HBe-positive patients with complications had higher ALT and HBVDNA levels (P < 0.01) but similar frequency of precore and core promoter mutations, compared with those without complications. Anti-HBe patients (24.5%) with complications had HBVDNA levels <10(4) copies/mL. The major factor for the development of cirrhotic complications was viral loads but cirrhotic complications continued to develop in patients with HBVDNA levels below 10(4) copies/mL.
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Affiliation(s)
- H-J Yuan
- Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong SAR
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Ahn SH, Kramvis A, Kawai S, Spangenberg HC, Li J, Kimbi G, Kew M, Wands J, Tong S. Sequence variation upstream of precore translation initiation codon reduces hepatitis B virus e antigen production. Gastroenterology 2003; 125:1370-8. [PMID: 14598253 DOI: 10.1016/j.gastro.2003.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Most South African hepatitis B virus strains harbor point mutations immediately upstream of the precore AUG codon. The aim of this study was to determine their effect on hepatitis B e antigen expression. METHODS The hepatitis B virus DNA sequence around the precore region was determined from sera of 45 black South Africans. The South African mutations were introduced into hepatitis B virus dimers of the same genotype, and hepatitis B e antigen was quantified from culture medium of transfected HepG2 or Huh7 cells. RESULTS The South African sequence changes were easily detectable in the acute, hepatitis B e antigen-positive phase of infection, suggesting that they were stable traits and were not selected by immune pressure. Triple mutations at the -5, -3, and -2 positions of the AUG codon severely impaired hepatitis B e antigen expression (P < 0.001). The frequent double mutation at the -5 and -2 positions moderately reduced hepatitis B e antigen levels (P < 0.001) to an extent comparable to that of the common core promoter mutations (1762(T)1764(A)). The presence of both South African and core promoter mutations diminished hepatitis B e antigen expression in an additive manner. It is interesting to note that the triple South African mutations enabled core protein translation from precore messenger RNA, which could rescue the replication defect of a hepatitis B virus genome with an ablated core gene. CONCLUSIONS We have identified a novel class of hepatitis B e antigen variants with reduced hepatitis B e antigen translation by a ribosomal leaky scanning mechanism. Reduction in hepatitis B e antigen expression may contribute to accelerated seroconversion from hepatitis B e antigen to its antibody in black South Africans infected with hepatitis B virus very early in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang Hoon Ahn
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School, 55 Claverick Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Ning Chen
- Department of Clinical Research, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
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Burda MR, Günther S, Dandri M, Will H, Petersen J. Structural and functional heterogeneity of naturally occurring hepatitis B virus variants. Antiviral Res 2001; 52:125-38. [PMID: 11672822 DOI: 10.1016/s0166-3542(01)00177-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Most organisms have developed sophisticated machineries to preserve their genomic integrity. On the contrary hepatitis B virus (HBV), like a lot of other viruses can undergo rapid and drastic sequence changes, especially if the virus has to cope with natural or therapy induced antiviral mechanisms in the host. Here, we try to summarize possible implications for the molecular pathogenesis of HBV based on the extensive research on the genetic variants of HBV.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Burda
- Heinrich-Pette-Institut für Experimentelle Virologie und Immunologie, Martinistr. 52, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
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Günther S, Fischer L, Pult I, Sterneck M, Will H. Naturally occurring variants of hepatitis B virus. Adv Virus Res 1999; 52:25-137. [PMID: 10384235 DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3527(08)60298-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 189] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- S Günther
- Heinrich-Pette-Institut für Experimentelle Virologie und Immunologie, Universität Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany.
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Diepolder HM, Ries G, Jung MC, Schlicht HJ, Gerlach JT, Gr ner N, Caselmann WH, Pape GR. Differential antigen-processing pathways of the hepatitis B virus e and core proteins. Gastroenterology 1999; 116:650-7. [PMID: 10029624 DOI: 10.1016/s0016-5085(99)70187-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) seem to play different roles in the induction and regulation of the antiviral immune response, although the two antigens share all major CD4(+) T-cell epitopes, and these epitopes can be processed from both antigens via the exogenous antigen-presenting pathway. The aim of this study was to test the ability of antigen-presenting cells to present epitopes from endogenously synthesized HBcAg/HBeAg on HLA class II molecules. METHODS Lymphoblastoid cell lines infected with recombinant vaccinia viruses containing various HBcAg or HBeAg constructs and stable transfectants were tested for their ability to stimulate HBcAg/HBeAg-specific CD4(+) T-cell clones. RESULTS Only antigen-presenting cells infected with HBeAg constructs but not those infected with HBcAg constructs were able to stimulate HBcAg/HBeAg-specific CD4(+) T-cell clones. T-cell activation by HBeAg constructs was completely inhibited by brefeldin A but not affected by chloroquin. In contrast, T-cell activation by exogenous, recombinant HBcAg was inhibited by chloroquin but not by brefeldin A. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that processing and HLA class II-associated presentation of endogenously synthesized HBeAg in virus-infected cells, including hepatocytes, may occur. This mechanism may be involved in the regulation of the CD4(+) T-cell response to HBcAg/HBeAg.
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Affiliation(s)
- H M Diepolder
- Department of Medicine II, Klinikum Grobetahadern, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Feitelson MA, Duan LX, Guo J, Horiike N, McIntyre G, Blumberg BS, Thomas HC, Carman W. Precore and X region mutants in hepatitis B virus infections among renal dialysis patients. J Viral Hepat 1995; 2:19-31. [PMID: 7493291 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.1995.tb00068.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) variants containing mutations within the X and the precore regions of the viral genome were demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and DNA sequencing in renal dialysis patients with different serological patterns of HBV infection. Among carriers, X region deletion mutants predominated in patients who lost hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), or developed anti-HBe, but not in persistently HBeAg-positive patients. The precore region remained wild type in all carriers whether or not they seroconverted from HBeAg to anti-HBe. The frequency of precore and X region mutants was greatest among non-carrier patients with viral antibodies as the only indication of infection and among patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH), suggesting an inverse relationship between the presence of wild type HBV markers and the presence of HBV mutants. Furthermore, the detection of one but not the other mutation in many serum samples suggests that these mutations are independently selected for during infection. Finally, the absence of HBV DNA in 21 'uninfected' dialysis patients with normal transaminases and no viral serology, suggests that replication of these mutants is associated with hepatitis. These results have important implications for HBV screening and treatment, as well as for the pathogenesis of chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Feitelson
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
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Li JS, Tong SP, Wen YM, Vitvitski L, Zhang Q, Trépo C. Hepatitis B virus genotype A rarely circulates as an HBe-minus mutant: possible contribution of a single nucleotide in the precore region. J Virol 1993; 67:5402-10. [PMID: 8350403 PMCID: PMC237941 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.67.9.5402-5410.1993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of HBe-minus hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutants, usually through a UAG nonsense mutation at codon 28 of the precore region, helps the virus to survive the anti-HBe immune response of the host. Host and viral factors that predispose to the emergence of such mutants are not well characterized. The fact that the precore region forms a hairpin structure essential for the packaging of viral pregenomic RNA may explain the extremely high prevalence of the UAG mutation at codon 28. It converts a wobble U-G pair in the packaging signal between nucleotide 3 of codon 15 (CCU) and nucleotide 2 of codon 28 (UGG) into a U-A pair. Since genotype A of HBV has a CCC sequence at codon 15, the UAG mutation would, instead, disrupt a C-G pair present in the wild-type virus. This alteration was shown by transfection experiments to greatly compromise the packaging of pregenomic RNA. The implication of this finding was elucidated by molecular epidemiological studies. Genotype A was found to be the most prevalent genotype in the wild-type virus populations in France but was found in only 1 of the 46 isolates of HBe-minus mutants found there. These mutants were contributed chiefly by genotype D, the second most prevalent genotype in France, which is characterized by a CCU sequence at codon 15. The role of the single nucleotide at codon 15 was confirmed by the finding of the single genotype A isolate in which both wild-type and mutant viruses were present. Interestingly, nearly all of the mutants had a codon 15 sequence of CCU instead of the CCC present in the wild-type viruses. Our results suggest that genotype A of HBV rarely circulates as HBe-minus mutants, probably because of a requirement for a simultaneous sequence change at codon 15. These data, together with the virtual absence of genotype A in the Chinese samples examined, may provide some insights into the uneven prevalence of HBe-minus mutants in the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- J S Li
- Unité de Recherche sur les Hepatites, le SIDA et les Retrovirus Humains, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale 271, Lyon, France
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Chen HS, Kew MC, Hornbuckle WE, Tennant BC, Cote PJ, Gerin JL, Purcell RH, Miller RH. The precore gene of the woodchuck hepatitis virus genome is not essential for viral replication in the natural host. J Virol 1992; 66:5682-4. [PMID: 1501300 PMCID: PMC289138 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.66.9.5682-5684.1992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
A number of naturally occurring hepatitis B virus mutants that cannot synthesize the virus precore protein have been identified. Such mutants have been associated with more severe forms of hepatitis, including fulminant hepatitis. The most common mutation observed is a substitution of G to A in the distal precore gene that converts a codon specifying Trp (TGG) to a termination codon (TAG). Using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, we have produced the same point mutation in the precore gene of an infectious clone of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV). Transfection of mutant WHV DNA into the livers of adult woodchucks resulted in replication of the mutant in three of three susceptible animals. Levels of virus replication and transient elevations in liver enzymes in serum were similar to those of adult animals infected with wild-type WHV. Virions, found to possess mutant precore genes by polymerase chain reaction amplification and DNA sequencing, were recovered from the serum of one of the animals and inoculated subcutaneously into neonatal woodchucks. They produced infection in all five animals studied. The level of virus replication in neonatal animals infected with this mutant virus was comparable to that found in neonatal woodchucks infected with wild-type WHV, but none of five woodchucks infected with the precore mutant virus as neonates became chronic virus carriers. It was concluded that the precore gene of the WHV genome is not essential for virus replication in the natural host but may be important for chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- H S Chen
- Hepatitis Viruses Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
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