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Su Y, Bu F, Zhu Y, Yang L, Wu Q, Zheng Y, Zhao J, Yu L, Jiang N, Wang Y, Wu J, Xie Y, Zhang X, Gao Y, Lan K, Deng Q. Hepatitis B virus core protein as a Rab-GAP suppressor driving liver disease progression. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2024; 69:2580-2595. [PMID: 38670853 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can lead to advanced liver pathology. Here, we establish a transgenic murine model expressing a basic core promoter (BCP)-mutated HBV genome. Unlike previous studies on the wild-type virus, the BCP-mutated HBV transgenic mice manifest chronic liver injury that culminates in cirrhosis and tumor development with age. Notably, agonistic anti-Fas treatment induces fulminant hepatitis in these mice even at a negligible dose. As the BCP mutant exhibits a striking increase in HBV core protein (HBc) expression, we posit that HBc is actively involved in hepatocellular injury. Accordingly, HBc interferes with Fis1-stimulated mitochondrial recruitment of Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16 domain family member 15 (TBC1D15). HBc may also inhibit multiple Rab GTPase-activating proteins, including Rab7-specific TBC1D15 and TBC1D5, by binding to their conserved catalytic domain. In cells under mitochondrial stress, HBc thus perturbs mitochondrial dynamics and prevents the recycling of damaged mitochondria. Moreover, sustained HBc expression causes lysosomal consumption via Rab7 hyperactivation, which further hampers late-stage autophagy and substantially increases apoptotic cell death. Finally, we show that adenovirally expressed HBc in a mouse model is directly cytopathic and causes profound liver injury, independent of antigen-specific immune clearance. These findings reveal an unexpected cytopathic role of HBc, making it a pivotal target for HBV-associated liver disease treatment. The BCP-mutated HBV transgenic mice also provide a valuable model for understanding chronic hepatitis B progression and for the assessment of therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Su
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Fan Bu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Yuanfei Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Laboratory of Cellular Immunity, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Le Yang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Qiong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Yuan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jianjin Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Lin Yu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Nan Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Yongxiang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jian Wu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Youhua Xie
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Xinxin Zhang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Yueqiu Gao
- Laboratory of Cellular Immunity, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
| | - Ke Lan
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
| | - Qiang Deng
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China; Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Pathogenic Microorganisms and Infection, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
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2
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Bosch M, Kallin N, Donakonda S, Zhang JD, Wintersteller H, Hegenbarth S, Heim K, Ramirez C, Fürst A, Lattouf EI, Feuerherd M, Chattopadhyay S, Kumpesa N, Griesser V, Hoflack JC, Siebourg-Polster J, Mogler C, Swadling L, Pallett LJ, Meiser P, Manske K, de Almeida GP, Kosinska AD, Sandu I, Schneider A, Steinbacher V, Teng Y, Schnabel J, Theis F, Gehring AJ, Boonstra A, Janssen HLA, Vandenbosch M, Cuypers E, Öllinger R, Engleitner T, Rad R, Steiger K, Oxenius A, Lo WL, Klepsch V, Baier G, Holzmann B, Maini MK, Heeren R, Murray PJ, Thimme R, Herrmann C, Protzer U, Böttcher JP, Zehn D, Wohlleber D, Lauer GM, Hofmann M, Luangsay S, Knolle PA. A liver immune rheostat regulates CD8 T cell immunity in chronic HBV infection. Nature 2024; 631:867-875. [PMID: 38987588 PMCID: PMC11269190 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07630-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection affects 300 million patients worldwide1,2, in whom virus-specific CD8 T cells by still ill-defined mechanisms lose their function and cannot eliminate HBV-infected hepatocytes3-7. Here we demonstrate that a liver immune rheostat renders virus-specific CD8 T cells refractory to activation and leads to their loss of effector functions. In preclinical models of persistent infection with hepatotropic viruses such as HBV, dysfunctional virus-specific CXCR6+ CD8 T cells accumulated in the liver and, as a characteristic hallmark, showed enhanced transcriptional activity of cAMP-responsive element modulator (CREM) distinct from T cell exhaustion. In patients with chronic hepatitis B, circulating and intrahepatic HBV-specific CXCR6+ CD8 T cells with enhanced CREM expression and transcriptional activity were detected at a frequency of 12-22% of HBV-specific CD8 T cells. Knocking out the inhibitory CREM/ICER isoform in T cells, however, failed to rescue T cell immunity. This indicates that CREM activity was a consequence, rather than the cause, of loss in T cell function, further supported by the observation of enhanced phosphorylation of protein kinase A (PKA) which is upstream of CREM. Indeed, we found that enhanced cAMP-PKA-signalling from increased T cell adenylyl cyclase activity augmented CREM activity and curbed T cell activation and effector function in persistent hepatic infection. Mechanistically, CD8 T cells recognizing their antigen on hepatocytes established close and extensive contact with liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, thereby enhancing adenylyl cyclase-cAMP-PKA signalling in T cells. In these hepatic CD8 T cells, which recognize their antigen on hepatocytes, phosphorylation of key signalling kinases of the T cell receptor signalling pathway was impaired, which rendered them refractory to activation. Thus, close contact with liver sinusoidal endothelial cells curbs the activation and effector function of HBV-specific CD8 T cells that target hepatocytes expressing viral antigens by means of the adenylyl cyclase-cAMP-PKA axis in an immune rheostat-like fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Bosch
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Nina Kallin
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Sainitin Donakonda
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Jitao David Zhang
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hannah Wintersteller
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Silke Hegenbarth
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Kathrin Heim
- Third Department of Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Carlos Ramirez
- Health Data Science Unit, Biomedical Genomics Group, Bioquant, Faculty of Medicine Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna Fürst
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Elias Isaac Lattouf
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Martin Feuerherd
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sutirtha Chattopadhyay
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Nadine Kumpesa
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Vera Griesser
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Christophe Hoflack
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Siebourg-Polster
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Carolin Mogler
- Institute of Pathology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Leo Swadling
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, University College London, London, UK
| | - Laura J Pallett
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, University College London, London, UK
| | - Philippa Meiser
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Katrin Manske
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Gustavo P de Almeida
- Institute of Immunology and Animal Physiology, School of Life Science, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Anna D Kosinska
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
- Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research, Munich site, Munich, Germany
| | - Ioana Sandu
- Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Annika Schneider
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Vincent Steinbacher
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Yan Teng
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Julia Schnabel
- Institute of Machine Learning and Biomedical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Fabian Theis
- Institute of Computational Biology, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Adam J Gehring
- Toronto Centre for Liver Disease and Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andre Boonstra
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Harry L A Janssen
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michiel Vandenbosch
- Institute of Multimodal Imaging, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Eva Cuypers
- Institute of Multimodal Imaging, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Rupert Öllinger
- Institute of Molecular Oncology and Functional Genomics, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Engleitner
- Institute of Molecular Oncology and Functional Genomics, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Roland Rad
- Institute of Molecular Oncology and Functional Genomics, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Katja Steiger
- Comparative Experimental Pathology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Wan-Lin Lo
- Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Victoria Klepsch
- Institute of Cell Genetics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Gottfried Baier
- Institute of Cell Genetics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Bernhard Holzmann
- Department of Surgery, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Mala K Maini
- Institute of Pathology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Ron Heeren
- Institute of Multimodal Imaging, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Peter J Murray
- Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Munich, Germany
| | - Robert Thimme
- Third Department of Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Carl Herrmann
- Health Data Science Unit, Biomedical Genomics Group, Bioquant, Faculty of Medicine Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Immunology and Animal Physiology, School of Life Science, TUM, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM, Munich, Germany
- Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jan P Böttcher
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Dietmar Zehn
- Institute of Immunology and Animal Physiology, School of Life Science, TUM, Munich, Germany
| | - Dirk Wohlleber
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Georg M Lauer
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maike Hofmann
- Third Department of Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Souphalone Luangsay
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Percy A Knolle
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany.
- German Center for Infection Research, Munich site, Munich, Germany.
- Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Life Science, TUM, Munich, Germany.
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3
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De Meyer A, Meuleman P. Preclinical animal models to evaluate therapeutic antiviral antibodies. Antiviral Res 2024; 225:105843. [PMID: 38548022 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2024.105843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Despite the availability of effective preventative vaccines and potent small-molecule antiviral drugs, effective non-toxic prophylactic and therapeutic measures are still lacking for many viruses. The use of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies in an antiviral context could fill this gap and provide effective virus-specific medical interventions. In order to develop these therapeutic antibodies, preclinical animal models are of utmost importance. Due to the variability in viral pathogenesis, immunity and overall characteristics, the most representative animal model for human viral infection differs between virus species. Therefore, throughout the years researchers sought to find the ideal preclinical animal model for each virus. The most used animal models in preclinical research include rodents (mice, ferrets, …) and non-human primates (macaques, chimpanzee, ….). Currently, antibodies are tested for antiviral efficacy against a variety of viruses including different hepatitis viruses, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and rabies virus. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge about the preclinical animal models that are used for the evaluation of therapeutic antibodies for the abovementioned viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amse De Meyer
- Laboratory of Liver Infectious Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Philip Meuleman
- Laboratory of Liver Infectious Diseases, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
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4
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Schiller L, Ko C, Kosinska AD, Grimm D, Protzer U. Production and Purification of Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors for the Development of Immune-Competent Mouse Models of Persistent Hepatitis B Virus Replication. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2837:207-218. [PMID: 39044087 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4027-2_18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
Mice infected with a recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying a replication-competent hepatitis B virus genome (rAAV-HBV) via the intravenous route establish a persistent HBV replication in hepatocytes and develop immune tolerance. They serve as models to evaluate antiviral immunity and to assess potential therapeutic approaches for chronic HBV infection. Combining selected HBV variants and different mouse genotypes allows for addressing a broad spectrum of research questions. This chapter describes the basic principles of the rAAV-HBV mouse model, rAAV-HBV production and purification methods, and finally, the in vivo application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Schiller
- Institute of Virology, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine/Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Chunkyu Ko
- Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Anna D Kosinska
- Institute of Virology, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine/Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner sites, Munich and Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dirk Grimm
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner sites, Munich and Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Infectious Diseases/Virology, Section Viral Vector Technologies, Medical Faculty, BioQuant, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Virology, Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine/Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany.
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner sites, Munich and Heidelberg, Germany.
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5
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Zheng Y, Deng Q. The Cre/loxP-Based Recombinant HBV cccDNA System In Vitro and In Vivo. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2837:185-198. [PMID: 39044085 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4027-2_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
Covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) exists as a stable episomal minichromosome in the nucleus of hepatocytes and is responsible for hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence. We recently reported a technique involving recombinant cccDNA (rcccDNA) of HBV by site-specific DNA recombination. A floxed monomeric HBV genome was engineered into a precursor plasmid (prcccDNA) which was excised via Cre/loxP-mediated DNA recombination to form a 3.3-kb rcccDNA bearing a loxP-chimeric intron. The foreign sequence was efficiently removed during RNA splicing, rendering a functionally seamless insertion. We characterized rcccDNA formation, effective viral transcription, and replication induced by rcccDNA both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we closely simulated chronic hepatitis by using a replication-defective recombinant adenoviral vector to deliver rcccDNA to the transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase, which led to prominent HBV persistence. Here, we describe a detailed protocol about how to construct and evaluate Cre/loxP-based recombinant HBV cccDNA system both in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiang Deng
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Shanghai, China.
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6
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Sharma S, Rawal P, Kaur S, Puria R. Liver organoids as a primary human model to study HBV-mediated Hepatocellular carcinoma. A review. Exp Cell Res 2023; 428:113618. [PMID: 37142202 DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2023.113618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is the prevailing cause of chronic liver disease, which progresses to Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 75% of cases. It represents a serious health concern being the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Treatments available to date fail to provide a complete cure with high chances of recurrence and related side effects. The lack of reliable, reproducible, and scalable in vitro modeling systems that could recapitulate the viral life cycle and represent virus-host interactions has hindered the development of effective treatments so far. The present review provides insights into the current in-vivo and in-vitro models used for studying HBV and their major limitations. We highlight the use of three-dimensional liver organoids as a novel and suitable platform for modeling HBV infection and HBV-mediated HCC. HBV organoids can be expanded, genetically altered, patient-derived, tested for drug discovery, and biobanked. This review also provides the general guidelines for culturing HBV organoids and highlights their several prospects for HBV drug discovery and screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simran Sharma
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, India
| | - Preety Rawal
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, India
| | - Savneet Kaur
- Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Delhi, India.
| | - Rekha Puria
- School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, India.
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7
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Yang JY, Wu YH, Pan MYC, Chiou YT, Lee RKL, Li TN, Wang LHC. Chemical-induced degradation of PreS2 mutant surface antigen via the induction of microautophagy. Antiviral Res 2022; 207:105417. [PMID: 36122619 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Naturally evolved immune-escape PreS2 mutant is an oncogenic caveat of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. PreS2 mutant is prevalent in above 50% of patients with HCC. In addition, intrahepatic expression of PreS2 mutant large surface antigen (PreS2-LHBS) induces endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondria dysfunction, cytokinesis failure, and subsequent chromosome hyperploidy. As PreS2-LHBS has no enzymatic activity, the development of PreS2-specific inhibitors can be challenging. In this study, we aim to identify inhibitors of PreS2-LHBS via the induction of protein-specific degradation. We set up a large-scale protein stability reporter platform and applied an FDA-approved drug library for the screening. We identified ABT199 as a negative modulator of PreS2-LHBS, which induced the degradation of PreS2-LHBS without affecting the general cell viability in both hepatoma and immortalized hepatocytes. Next, by affinity purification screening, we found that PreS2-LHBS interacted with HSC70, a microautophagy mediating chaperone. Simultaneously, inhibitions of lysosomal degradation or microautophagy restored the expression of PreS2-LHBS, suggesting microautophagy is involved in ABT199-induced PreS2-LHBS degradation. Notably, a 24-hr treatment of ABT199 was sufficient for the reduction of DNA damage and cytokinesis failure in PreS2-LHBS expressing hepatocytes. In addition, a persistent treatment of ABT199 for 3 weeks reversed chromosome hyperploidy in PreS2-LHBS cells and suppressed anchorage-independent growth of HBV-positive hepatoma cells. Together, this study identified ABT-199 as a negative modulator of PreS2-LHBS via mediating microautophagy. Our results indicated that long-term inhibition of PreS2-LHBS may serve as a novel strategy for the therapeutic prevention of HBV-mediated HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joey Yi Yang
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Hsuan Wu
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Max Yu-Chen Pan
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Ting Chiou
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Richard Kuan-Lin Lee
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Tian-Neng Li
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Lily Hui-Ching Wang
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
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8
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Wei L, Cafiero TR, Tseng A, Gertje HP, Berneshawi A, Crossland NA, Ploss A. Conversion of hepatitis B virus relaxed circular to covalently closed circular DNA is supported in murine cells. JHEP Rep 2022; 4:100534. [PMID: 36035363 PMCID: PMC9403495 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2022.100534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background & Aims HBV has a narrow host restriction, with humans and chimpanzees representing the only known natural hosts. The molecular correlates of resistance in species that are commonly used in biomedical research, such as mice, are currently incompletely understood. Expression of human NTCP (hNTCP) in mouse hepatocytes enables HBV entry, but subsequently covalently closed circular (cccDNA) does not form in most murine cells. It is unknown if this blockade in cccDNA formation is due to deficiency in repair of relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) to cccDNA. Methods Here, we deployed both in vivo and in vitro virological and biochemical approaches to investigate if murine cells contain a complete set of repair factors capable of converting HBV rcDNA to cccDNA. Results We demonstrate that HBV cccDNA does form in murine cell culture or in mice when recombinant rcDNA without a protein adduct is directly introduced into cells. We further show that the murine orthologues of core components in DNA lagging strand synthesis, required for the repair of rcDNA to cccDNA in human cells, can support this crucial step in the HBV life cycle. It is worth noting that recombinant HBV rcDNA substrates, either without a protein adduct or containing neutravidin to mimic HBV polymerase, were used in our study; it remains unclear if the HBV polymerase removal processes are the same in mouse and human cells. Conclusions Collectively, our data suggest that the HBV life cycle is blocked post entry and likely before the repair stage in mouse cells, which yields critical insights that will aid in the construction of a mouse model with inbred susceptibility to HBV infection. Lay summary Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is only known to infect humans and chimpanzees in nature. Mouse models are often used in modeling disease pathogenesis and preclinical research to assess the efficacy and safety of interventions before they are then tested in human participants. However, because mice are not susceptible to HBV infection it is difficult to accurately model human infection (and test potential treatments) in mouse models. Herein, we have shown that mice are able to perform a key step in the HBV life cycle, tightening the net around the possible reason why HBV can not efficiently infect and replicate in mice.
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Key Words
- FEN-1, flap endonuclease 1
- HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma
- HDD, hydrodynamic delivery
- LIG1, DNA ligase 1
- NA-RrcDNA, neutravidin-recombinant relaxed circular DNA
- PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen
- POLδ, DNA polymerase delta
- RFC, replication factor C
- RrcDNA, recombinant relaxed circular DNA
- animal model
- cccDNA, covalently closed circular DNA
- hNTCP, human sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide
- hepatitis B virus
- rcDNA, relaxed circular DNA
- species tropism
- ssDNA, single-stranded DNA
- viral hepatitis
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wei
- Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Thomas R Cafiero
- Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Anna Tseng
- National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hans P Gertje
- National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew Berneshawi
- Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Nicholas A Crossland
- National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexander Ploss
- Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
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9
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Diniz MO, Schurich A, Chinnakannan SK, Duriez M, Stegmann KA, Davies J, Kucykowicz S, Suveizdyte K, Amin OE, Alcock F, Cargill T, Barnes E, Maini MK. NK cells limit therapeutic vaccine-induced CD8 +T cell immunity in a PD-L1-dependent manner. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabi4670. [PMID: 35417187 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abi4670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
A better understanding of mechanisms that regulate CD8+T cell responses to therapeutic vaccines is needed to develop approaches to enhance vaccine efficacy for chronic viral infections and cancers. We show here that NK cell depletion enhanced antigen-specific T cell responses to chimp adenoviral vector (ChAdOx) vaccination in a mouse model of chronic HBV infection (CHB). Probing the mechanism underlying this negative regulation, we observed that CHB drove parallel up-regulation of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) on liver-resident NK cells and programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) on intrahepatic T cells. PD-L1-expressing liver-resident NK cells suppressed PD-1hiCD8+T cells enriched within the HBV-specific response to therapeutic vaccination. Cytokine activation of NK cells also induced PD-L1, and combining cytokine activation with PD-L1 blockade resulted in conversion of NK cells into efficient helpers that boosted HBV-specific CD8+T cell responses to therapeutic vaccination in mice and to chronic infection in humans. Our findings delineate an immunotherapeutic combination that can boost the response to therapeutic vaccination in CHB and highlight the broader importance of PD-L1-dependent regulation of T cells by cytokine-activated NK cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana O Diniz
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Anna Schurich
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Senthil K Chinnakannan
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Dept of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Marion Duriez
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Kerstin A Stegmann
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Jessica Davies
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Stephanie Kucykowicz
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Kornelija Suveizdyte
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Oliver E Amin
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Frances Alcock
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
| | - Tamsin Cargill
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Dept of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eleanor Barnes
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Dept of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mala K Maini
- Division of Infection and Immunity and Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, UCL, London, UK
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10
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STING signaling activation inhibits HBV replication and attenuates the severity of liver injury and HBV-induced fibrosis. Cell Mol Immunol 2022; 19:92-107. [PMID: 34811496 PMCID: PMC8752589 DOI: 10.1038/s41423-021-00801-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of HBV plays a crucial role in viral persistence and is also a risk factor for developing HBV-induced diseases, including liver fibrosis. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), a master regulator of DNA-mediated innate immune activation, is a potential therapeutic target for viral infection and virus-related diseases. In this study, agonist-induced STING signaling activation in macrophages was revealed to inhibit cccDNA-mediated transcription and HBV replication via epigenetic modification in hepatocytes. Notably, STING activation could efficiently attenuate the severity of liver injury and fibrosis in a chronic recombinant cccDNA (rcccDNA) mouse model, which is a proven suitable research platform for HBV-induced fibrosis. Mechanistically, STING-activated autophagic flux could suppress macrophage inflammasome activation, leading to the amelioration of liver injury and HBV-induced fibrosis. Overall, the activation of STING signaling could inhibit HBV replication through epigenetic suppression of cccDNA and alleviate HBV-induced liver fibrosis through the suppression of macrophage inflammasome activation by activating autophagic flux in a chronic HBV mouse model. This study suggests that targeting the STING signaling pathway may be an important therapeutic strategy to protect against persistent HBV replication and HBV-induced fibrosis.
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11
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Mnyandu N, Limani SW, Arbuthnot P, Maepa MB. Advances in designing Adeno-associated viral vectors for development of anti-HBV gene therapeutics. Virol J 2021; 18:247. [PMID: 34903258 PMCID: PMC8670254 DOI: 10.1186/s12985-021-01715-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the five decades having passed since discovery of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), together with development of an effective anti-HBV vaccine, infection with the virus remains a serious public health problem and results in nearly 900,000 annual deaths worldwide. Current therapies do not eliminate the virus and viral replication typically reactivates after treatment withdrawal. Hence, current endeavours are aimed at developing novel therapies to achieve a functional cure. Nucleic acid-based therapeutic approaches are promising, with several candidates showing excellent potencies in preclinical and early stages of clinical development. However, this class of therapeutics is yet to become part of standard anti-HBV treatment regimens. Obstacles delaying development of gene-based therapies include lack of clinically relevant delivery methods and a paucity of good animal models for preclinical characterisation. Recent studies have demonstrated safety and efficiency of Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) in gene therapy. However, AAVs do have flaws and this has prompted research aimed at improving design of novel and artificially synthesised AAVs. Main goals are to improve liver transduction efficiencies and avoiding immune clearance. Application of AAVs to model HBV replication in vivo is also useful for characterising anti-HBV gene therapeutics. This review summarises recent advances in AAV engineering and their contributions to progress with anti-HBV gene therapy development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Njabulo Mnyandu
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Shonisani Wendy Limani
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Patrick Arbuthnot
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Mohube Betty Maepa
- Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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12
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Du Y, Broering R, Li X, Zhang X, Liu J, Yang D, Lu M. In Vivo Mouse Models for Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Their Application. Front Immunol 2021; 12:766534. [PMID: 34777385 PMCID: PMC8586444 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.766534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the availability of effective vaccination, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a major challenge worldwide. Research efforts are ongoing to find an effective cure for the estimated 250 million people chronically infected by HBV in recent years. The exceptionally limited host spectrum of HBV has limited the research progress. Thus, different HBV mouse models have been developed and used for studies on infection, immune responses, pathogenesis, and antiviral therapies. However, these mouse models have great limitations as no spread of HBV infection occurs in the mouse liver and no or only very mild hepatitis is present. Thus, the suitability of these mouse models for a given issue and the interpretation of the results need to be critically assessed. This review summarizes the currently available mouse models for HBV research, including hydrodynamic injection, viral vector-mediated transfection, recombinant covalently closed circular DNA (rc-cccDNA), transgenic, and liver humanized mouse models. We systematically discuss the characteristics of each model, with the main focus on hydrodynamic injection mouse model. The usefulness and limitations of each mouse model are discussed based on the published studies. This review summarizes the facts for considerations of the use and suitability of mouse model in future HBV studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanqin Du
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Ruth Broering
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Xiaoran Li
- State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoyong Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jia Liu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Dongliang Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Mengji Lu
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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13
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In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging of HBV Replicating Hepatocytes Allows for the Monitoring of Anti-Viral Immunity. Viruses 2021; 13:v13112273. [PMID: 34835079 PMCID: PMC8619421 DOI: 10.3390/v13112273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is complex and not entirely understood so far, including the decisive factors leading to the development of chronic hepatitis B. This lack of a mechanistic understanding of HBV-specific immunity is also caused by a limited number of suitable animal models. Here, we describe the generation of a recombinant adenovirus expressing an HBV 1.3-overlength genome linked to luciferase (Ad-HBV-Luc) allowing for precise analysis of the quantity of infected hepatocytes. This enables sensitive and close-meshed monitoring of HBV-specific CD8 T cells and the onset of anti-viral immunity in mice. A high dose of Ad-HBV-Luc developed into chronic hepatitis B accompanied by dysfunctional CD8 T cells characterized by high expression of PD1 and TOX and low expression of KLRG1 and GzmB. In contrast, a low dose of Ad-HBV-Luc infection resulted in acute hepatitis with CD8 T cell-mediated elimination of HBV-replicating hepatocytes associated with elevated sALT levels and increased numbers of cytotoxic HBV-specific CD8 T cells. Thus, the infectious dose was a critical factor to induce either acute self-limited or chronic HBV infection in mice. Taken together, the new Ad-HBV-Luc vector will allow for highly sensitive and time-resolved analysis of HBV-specific immune responses during acute and chronic infection.
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14
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In Vivo Modelling of Hepatitis B Virus Subgenotype A1 Replication Using Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors. Viruses 2021; 13:v13112247. [PMID: 34835053 PMCID: PMC8618177 DOI: 10.3390/v13112247] [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: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The paucity of animal models that simulate the replication of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an impediment to advancing new anti-viral treatments. The work reported here employed recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to model HBV subgenotype A1 and subgenotype D3 replication in vitro and in vivo. Infection with subgenotype A1 is endemic to parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and it is associated with a high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Recombinant AAV serotype 2 (AAV2) and 8 (AAV8) vectors bearing greater-than-genome-length sequences of HBV DNA from subgenotype A1 and D3, were produced. Transduced liver-derived cultured cells produced HBV surface antigen and core antigen. Administration of AAV8 carrying HBV subgenotype A1 genome (AAV8-A1) to mice resulted in the sustained production of HBV replication markers over a six-month period, without elevated inflammatory cytokines, expression of interferon response genes or alanine transaminase activity. Markers of replication were generally higher in animals treated with subgenotype D3 genome-bearing AAVs than in those receiving the subgenotype A1-genome-bearing vectors. To validate the use of the AAV8-A1 murine model for anti-HBV drug development, the efficacy of anti-HBV artificial primary-microRNAs was assessed. Significant silencing of HBV markers was observed over a 6-month period after administering AAVs. These data indicate that AAVs conveniently and safely recapitulate the replication of different HBV subgenotypes, and the vectors may be used to assess antivirals’ potency.
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15
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Zhang X, Wang X, Wu M, Ghildyal R, Yuan Z. Animal Models for the Study of Hepatitis B Virus Pathobiology and Immunity: Past, Present, and Future. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:715450. [PMID: 34335553 PMCID: PMC8322840 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.715450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health problem that plagues approximately 240 million people. Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) often leads to liver inflammation and aberrant repair which results in diseases ranging from liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, to hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite its narrow species tropism, researchers have established various in vivo models for HBV or its related viruses which have provided a wealth of knowledge on viral lifecycle, pathogenesis, and immunity. Here we briefly revisit over five decades of endeavor in animal model development for HBV and summarize their advantages and limitations. We also suggest directions for further improvements that are crucial for elucidation of the viral immune-evasion strategies and for development of novel therapeutics for a functional cure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaonan Zhang
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaomeng Wang
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Min Wu
- Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Reena Ghildyal
- Centre for Research in Therapeutic Solutions, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Zhenghong Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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16
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Clark MP, Huynh T, Rao S, Mackiewicz L, Mason H, Romal S, Stutz MD, Ahn SH, Earnest L, Sozzi V, Littlejohn M, Tran BM, Wiedemann N, Vincan E, Torresi J, Netter HJ, Mahmoudi T, Revill P, Pellegrini M, Ebert G. Clinical stage drugs targeting inhibitor of apoptosis proteins purge episomal Hepatitis B viral genome in preclinical models. Cell Death Dis 2021; 12:641. [PMID: 34162831 PMCID: PMC8222287 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-03924-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
A major unmet clinical need is a therapeutic capable of removing hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome from the liver of infected individuals to reduce their risk of developing liver cancer. A strategy to deliver such a therapy could utilize the ability to target and promote apoptosis of infected hepatocytes. Presently there is no clinically relevant strategy that has been shown to effectively remove persistent episomal covalently closed circular HBV DNA (cccDNA) from the nucleus of hepatocytes. We used linearized single genome length HBV DNA of various genotypes to establish a cccDNA-like reservoir in immunocompetent mice and showed that clinical-stage orally administered drugs that antagonize the function of cellular inhibitor of apoptosis proteins can eliminate HBV replication and episomal HBV genome in the liver. Primary human liver organoid models were used to confirm the clinical relevance of these results. This study underscores a clinically tenable strategy for the potential elimination of chronic HBV reservoirs in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle P Clark
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Thao Huynh
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Shringar Rao
- Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Liana Mackiewicz
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Hugh Mason
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Shahla Romal
- Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michael D Stutz
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Sang H Ahn
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Linda Earnest
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Vitina Sozzi
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Margaret Littlejohn
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Bang M Tran
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Elizabeth Vincan
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Joseph Torresi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Hans J Netter
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Peter Revill
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Marc Pellegrini
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
| | - Gregor Ebert
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Institute of Virology, Technical University of Munich/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany.
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17
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Zhu W, Zhou X, Liu S. Transfer of HBV genomes to bone marrow using adenovirus vectors leads to alteration of the hematopoietic status in mice. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai) 2021; 53:796-799. [PMID: 33742669 DOI: 10.1093/abbs/gmab033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Wenbo Zhu
- Clinical Medical Research Center, First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Xiangping Zhou
- Clinical Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Shuangquan Liu
- Clinical Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China
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18
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Kruse RL, Barzi M, Legras X, Pankowicz FP, Furey N, Liao L, Xu J, Bissig-Choisat B, Slagle BL, Bissig KD. A hepatitis B virus transgenic mouse model with a conditional, recombinant, episomal genome. JHEP Rep 2021; 3:100252. [PMID: 33733079 PMCID: PMC7940981 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2021.100252] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background & Aims Development of new and more effective therapies against hepatitis B virus (HBV) is limited by the lack of suitable small animal models. The HBV transgenic mouse model containing an integrated overlength 1.3-mer construct has yielded crucial insights, but this model unfortunately lacks covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), the episomal HBV transcriptional template, and cannot be cured given that HBV is integrated in every cell. Methods To solve these 2 problems, we generated a novel transgenic mouse (HBV1.1X), which generates an excisable circular HBV genome using Cre/LoxP technology. This model possesses a HBV1.1-mer cassette knocked into the ROSA26 locus and is designed for stable expression of viral proteins from birth, like the current HBV transgenic mouse model, before genomic excision with the introduction of Cre recombinase. Results We demonstrated induction of recombinant cccDNA (rcccDNA) formation via viral or transgenic Cre expression in HBV1.1X mice, and the ability to regulate HBsAg and HBc expression with Cre in mice. Tamoxifen-inducible Cre could markedly downregulate baseline HBsAg levels from the integrated HBV genome. To demonstrate clearance of HBV from HBV1.1X mice, we administered adenovirus expressing Cre, which permanently and significantly reduced HBsAg and core antigen levels in the murine liver via rcccDNA excision and a subsequent immune response. Conclusions The HBV1.1X model is the first Cre-regulatable HBV transgenic mouse model and should be of value to mimic chronic HBV infection, with neonatal expression and tolerance of HBV antigens, and on-demand modulation of HBV expression. Lay summary Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can only naturally infect humans and chimpanzees. Mouse models have been developed with the HBV genome integrated into mouse chromosomes, but this prevents mice from being cured. We developed a new transgenic mouse model that allows for HBV to be excised from mouse chromosomes to form a recombinant circular DNA molecule resembling the natural circular HBV genome. HBV expression could be reduced in these mice, enabling curative therapies to be tested in this new mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Kruse
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mercedes Barzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Xavier Legras
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Francis P Pankowicz
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Nika Furey
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Lan Liao
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Janming Xu
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Beatrice Bissig-Choisat
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Betty L Slagle
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Karl-Dimiter Bissig
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Duke Center for Virology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.,Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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19
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Lai F, Wee CYY, Chen Q. Establishment of Humanized Mice for the Study of HBV. Front Immunol 2021; 12:638447. [PMID: 33679796 PMCID: PMC7933441 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.638447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Viral hepatitis particularly Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is still an ongoing health issue worldwide. Despite the vast technological advancements in research and development, only HBV vaccines, typically given during early years, are currently available as a preventive measure against acquiring the disease from a secondary source. In general, HBV can be cleared naturally by the human immune system if detected at low levels early. However, long term circulation of HBV in the peripheral blood may be detrimental to the human liver, specifically targeting human hepatocytes for cccDNA integration which inevitably supports HBV life cycle for the purpose of reinfection in healthy cells. Although there is some success in using nucleoside analogs or polyclonal antibodies targeting HBV surface antigens (HBsAg) in patients with acute or chronic HBV+ (CHB), majority of them would either respond only partially or succumb to the disease entirely unless they undergo liver transplants from a fully matched healthy donor and even so may not necessarily guarantee a 100% chance of survival. Indeed, in vitro/ex vivo cultures and various transgenic animal models have already provided us with a good understanding of HBV but they primarily lack human specificity or virus-host interactions in the presence of human immune surveillance. Therefore, the demand of utilizing humanized mice has increased over the last decade as a pre-clinical platform for investigating human-specific immune responses against HBV as well as identifying potential immunotherapeutic strategies in eradicating the virus. Basically, this review covers some of the recent developments and key advantages of humanized mouse models over other conventional transgenic mice platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fritz Lai
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Cherry Yong Yi Wee
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Qingfeng Chen
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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20
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Huang H, Rückborn M, Le-Trilling VTK, Zhu D, Yang S, Zhou W, Yang X, Feng X, Lu Y, Lu M, Dittmer U, Yang D, Trilling M, Liu J. Prophylactic and therapeutic HBV vaccination by an HBs-expressing cytomegalovirus vector lacking an interferon antagonist in mice. Eur J Immunol 2020; 51:393-407. [PMID: 33029793 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202048780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-based vaccines show promising effects against chronic infections in nonhuman primates. Therefore, we examined the potential of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines based on mouse CMV (MCMV) vectors expressing the small HBsAg. Immunological consequences of vaccine virus attenuation were addressed by either replacing the dispensable gene m157 ("MCMV-HBsȍ) or the gene M27 ("ΔM27-HBs"), the latter encodes a potent IFN antagonist targeting the transcription factor STAT2. M27 was chosen, since human CMV encodes an analogous gene product, which also induced proteasomal STAT2 degradation by exploiting Cullin RING ubiquitin ligases. Vaccinated mice were challenged with HBV through hydrodynamic injection. MCMV-HBs and ΔM27-HBs vaccination achieved accelerated HBV clearance in serum and liver as well as robust HBV-specific CD8+ T-cell responses. When we explored the therapeutic potential of MCMV-based vaccines, especially the combination of ΔM27-HBs prime and DNA boost vaccination resulted in increased intrahepatic HBs-specific CD8+ T-cell responses and HBV clearance in persistently infected mice. Our results demonstrated that vaccines based on a replication competent MCMV attenuated through the deletion of an IFN antagonist targeting STAT2 elicit robust anti-HBV immune responses and mediate HBV clearance in mice in prophylactic and therapeutic immunization regimes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongming Huang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Meike Rückborn
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | | | - Dan Zhu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shangqing Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Wenqing Zhou
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xuecheng Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xuemei Feng
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yinping Lu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Mengji Lu
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Ulf Dittmer
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Dongliang Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Mirko Trilling
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Jia Liu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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21
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Burwitz BJ, Zhou Z, Li W. Animal models for the study of human hepatitis B and D virus infection: New insights and progress. Antiviral Res 2020; 182:104898. [PMID: 32758525 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Revised: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a member of the Hepadnaviridae family and infects hepatocytes, leading to liver pathology in acutely and chronically infected individuals. Co-infection with Hepatitis D virus (HDV), which requires the surface proteins of HBV to replicate, can exacerbate this disease progression. Thus, the >250 million people living with chronic HBV infection, including 13 million co-infected with HDV, would significantly benefit from an effective and affordable curative treatment. Animal models are crucial to the development of innovative disease therapies, a paradigm repeated again and again throughout the fields of immunology, neurology, reproduction, and development. Unfortunately, HBV has a highly-restricted species tropism, infecting limited species including humans, chimpanzees, and treeshrews. The first experimentally controlled studies of HBV infection were following inoculation of human volunteers in 1942, which identified the transmissibility of hepatitis through serum transfer and led to the hypothesis that the etiological agent was viral. Subsequent research in chimpanzees (Desmyter et al., 1971; Lichter, 1969) and later in other species, such as the treeshrews (Walter et al., 1996; Yan et al., 1996), further confirmed the viral origin of hepatitis B. Shortly thereafter, HBV-like viral infections were identified in woodchucks (Summers et al., 1978; Werner et al., 1979) and ducks, and much of our understanding of HBV replication can be attributed to these important models. However, with the exodus of chimpanzees from research and the limited reagents and historical data for treeshrews and other understudied species, there remains an urgent need to identify physiologically relevant models of chronic HBV infection. While large strides have been made in generating such models, particularly over the past two decades, there is still no available model that faithfully recapitulates the immunity and pathogenesis of HBV infection. Here, we discuss recent advancements in the generation of murine and non-human primate (NHP) models of HBV/HDV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Burwitz
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, OR, 97006, USA.
| | - Zhongmin Zhou
- College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China.
| | - Wenhui Li
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China; Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 102206, China.
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22
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Horng JH, Lin WH, Wu CR, Lin YY, Wu LL, Chen DS, Chen PJ. HBV X protein-based therapeutic vaccine accelerates viral antigen clearance by mobilizing monocyte infiltration into the liver in HBV carrier mice. J Biomed Sci 2020; 27:70. [PMID: 32466788 PMCID: PMC7257178 DOI: 10.1186/s12929-020-00662-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistently infected about 250 million people worldwide, and a curative treatment remains an unmet medical need. Among many approaches to treat chronic hepatitis B (CHB), therapeutic vaccines have been developed for two decades, but none have yielded promising results in clinical trials. Therefore, dissection of HBV clearance mechanisms during therapeutic vaccination in appropriate models, which could give rise to new curative therapies, is urgently needed. Growing evidence indicates that prolonged and intensive exposure of antigen-specific T cells to viral antigens is a major cause of T cell exhaustion, and decreases anti-HBV immunity efficacy of therapeutic vaccination. HBV X protein (HBx) is expressed at low levels, and the understanding of its immunogenicity and potential in therapeutic CHB vaccines is limited. Methods HBV genome sequences from CHB patients were cloned into a pAAV plasmid backbone and transfected into immunocompetent mouse hepatocytes through hydrodynamic injection. Mice carrying > 500 IU/mL serum HBV surface antigen (HBs) for more than 4 weeks were considered HBV carriers mimicking human CHB and received 3 doses of weekly HBx vaccine by subcutaneous immunization. Serum HBV clearance was evaluated by monitoring serum HBs and HBV-DNA titers. Residual HBV in the liver was evaluated by western blotting for HBV core antigen. The splenic antigen-specific T cell response was quantified by a 15-mer overlapping peptide-stimulated interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay. Blood and hepatic immune cells were quantified by flow cytometric analysis. Results Our HBx-based vaccine induced systemic HBx-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in HBV carrier mice and demonstrated significant HBs and HBV-DNA elimination. The protective effect persisted for at least 30 days without additional booster immunization. Different infiltrating myeloid cell subsets, each with distinctive roles during immune-mediated HBV clearance, were found in the liver of vaccinated mice. During vaccine therapy, inflammatory monocyte depletion resulted in sustained HBV clearance inhibition, whereas phagocytic monocyte-derived macrophage and Kupffer cell elimination resulted in only transient inhibition of vaccine-induced HBV clearance. Conclusions We report the potential role of HBx as a major immunogen in an HBV therapeutic vaccine and the significance of a liver-infiltrating monocyte subset during hepatic viral clearance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jau-Hau Horng
- Graduate Institute of Microbiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1 Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Wei-Hsiang Lin
- TheVax Genetics Vaccine Company Limited, 5F, No. 25, Jen Ai Road Section 4, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Chang-Ru Wu
- Graduate Institute of Microbiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1 Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - You-Yu Lin
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1, Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Li-Ling Wu
- Department & Institute of Physiology, National Yang-Ming University, No. 155, Section 2, Linong Street, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Ding-Shinn Chen
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1, Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.).,Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 1, Changde Street, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.).,Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 1, Changde Street, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
| | - Pei-Jer Chen
- Graduate Institute of Microbiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1 Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.). .,Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 1, Jen Ai Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.). .,Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 1, Changde Street, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.). .,Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 1, Changde Street, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
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23
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Yao X, Li Z, Gong X, Fu X, Xiao X, He M, Huang B, Xu Z. Total saponins extracted from Abrus cantoniensis Hance suppress hepatitis B virus replication in vitro and in rAAV8-1.3HBV transfected mice. JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 2020; 249:112366. [PMID: 31678415 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2019.112366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Revised: 10/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Hepatitis B, an infectious disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV), is still a serious problem affecting global public health. Abrus cantoniensis Hance (AC), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used as a folk medicine for treating hepatitis in China from ancient times. However, its active ingredients are still unclear. AIM OF STUDY Our previous study indicated that saponins extracted from AC (ACS) were the active anti-HBV ingredients in AC. This study aimed to further investigate the anti-HBV effect of ACS in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS HepG2.2.15 cells which consecutively produce HBV DNA and HBV antigens were used for in vitro test, and C57BL/6 mice infected by a recombinant adeno-associated virus 8 vector carrying 1.3 copies of HBV genome (rAAV8-HBV1.3) were used for in vivo test. The histopathological changes and the immune indices were evaluated in mice model. Genechip was conducted to identify genes and pathways regulated by ACS in HepG2.2.15 cells. RESULTS In this study, we confirmed that ACS treatment prominently inhibited production of HBV DNA, Hepatitis Be Antigen (HBeAg), and Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in HepG2.2.15 cells. ACS treatment also decreased serum HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBV DNA level in rAAV8-1.3HBV transfected mice, which is in accordance with the in vitro results. Moreover, HBV infection-induced liver inflammation was significantly relieved by ACS, which could be observed in H&E staining and immunohistochemistry of HBcAg. ACS treatment elevated IFN-γ level in mice serum and increased CD4+ T cell percentage in splenocytes. KEGG pathway analysis showed that phenylalanine metabolism pathway and tyrosine metabolism pathway were greatly regulated by ACS treatment. CONCLUSION ACS exerted potent inhibitory effects on HBV replication both in vivo and in vitro, which may provide basis for its potential clinical usage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangcao Yao
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Zhanquan Li
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Xiaomei Gong
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Xiang Fu
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Xiao Xiao
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Maolin He
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China
| | - Baokang Huang
- School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
| | - Zhongyuan Xu
- Research Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
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24
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Li F, Wang Z, Hu F, Su L. Cell Culture Models and Animal Models for HBV Study. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2020; 1179:109-135. [PMID: 31741335 DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-9151-4_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Highly representative and relevant cell and mouse models are required for HBV study, including uncovering its lifecycle, investigation of the viral-host interaction, and development and evaluation of the novel antiviral therapy. During the past 40 years, both HBV cell culture models and animal models have evolved over several generations, each with significant improvement for specific purposes. In one aspect, HBV cell culture models experienced the original noninfection model including HBV plasmid DNA transfection and HBV genome integrated stable cells such as HepG2.2.15 which constitutively produces HBV virus and HepAD38 cells and its derivatives which drug-regulated HBV production. As for HBV infection models, HepaRG cells once dominated the HBV infection field for over a decade, but its complicated and labor-extensive cell differentiation procedures discouraged primary researchers from stepping in the field. The identification of human NTCP as HBV receptor evoked great enthusiasm of the whole HBV field, and its readily adaptive characteristic makes it popular in many HBV laboratories. Recombinant cccDNA (rc-cccDNA) emerged recently aiming to tackle the very basic question of how to eventually eradicate cccDNA without HBV real virus infection. In the other aspect, HBV transgenic mouse was firstly generated in the 1990s, which was helpful to decipher HBV production in vivo. However, the HBV transgenic mice were naturally immune tolerant to HBV viral products. Subsequently, a series of nonintegrated HBV mouse models were generated through plasmid hydrodynamic tail vein injection and viral vector-mediated delivery approaches, and HBV full life cycle was incomplete as cccDNA was not formed from HBV relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA). Human NTCP transgenic mouse still could not support productive HBV infection, and humanized mouse liver with human hepatocytes which supported whole HBV life cycle still dominates HBV infection in vivo, a value but expensive model until now. Other methods to empower mouse to carry HBV cccDNA were also exploited. In this chapter, we summarized the advantages and disadvantages of each model historically and provided protocols for HBV infection in HepG2-NTCP cells, HBV rc-cccDNA transfection in HepG2 cells, and HBV infection in NRG-Fah-/- liver humanized mouse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Li
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
- Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
| | - Zhuo Wang
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Fengyu Hu
- Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Lishan Su
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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25
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Hao X, Chen Y, Bai L, Wei H, Sun R, Tian Z. HBsAg-specific CD8 + T cells as an indispensable trigger to induce murine hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell Mol Immunol 2019; 18:128-137. [PMID: 31767976 DOI: 10.1038/s41423-019-0330-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is mediated by an inappropriate attack by HBV-specific T cells in patients. However, this immunopathogenic process has not been clarified because of the lack of a suitable animal model. Here, we used immunocompetent Fah-/- mice as the recipients in the adoptive transfer of HBsAg+ hepatocytes from HBs-Tg mice to replace the recipient hepatocytes (HBs-HepR). HBs-HepR mice exhibited persistent HBsAg expression with chronic hepatitis and eventually developed HCC with a prevalence of 100%. HBsAg-specific CD8+ T cells were generated and specifically and continuously induced hepatocyte apoptosis with progressive chronic inflammation, and the depletion of CD8+ T cells or their deficiency prevented HCC, which could then be reproduced by the transfer of HBsAg-specific CD8+ T cells. In summary, our results demonstrated that CD8+ T cells plays a critical role in HBsAg-driven inflammtion and HCC tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Hao
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Yongyan Chen
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Lu Bai
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Haiming Wei
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Rui Sun
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China. .,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.
| | - Zhigang Tian
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China. .,Institute of Immunology, University of Science and Technology of China, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China.
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26
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Sa-Ngiamsuntorn K, Thongsri P, Pewkliang Y, Wongkajornsilp A, Kongsomboonchoke P, Suthivanich P, Borwornpinyo S, Hongeng S. An Immortalized Hepatocyte-like Cell Line (imHC) Accommodated Complete Viral Lifecycle, Viral Persistence Form, cccDNA and Eventual Spreading of a Clinically-Isolated HBV. Viruses 2019; 11:E952. [PMID: 31623162 PMCID: PMC6832882 DOI: 10.3390/v11100952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
More than 350 million people worldwide have been persistently infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Chronic HBV infection could advance toward liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The intervention with prophylactic vaccine and conventional treatment could suppress HBV, but could not completely eradicate it. The major obstacle for investigating curative antiviral drugs are the incompetence of hepatocyte models that should have closely imitated natural human infection. Here, we demonstrated that an immortalized hepatocyte-like cell line (imHC) could accommodate for over 30 days the entire life cycle of HBV prepared from either established cultured cells or clinically-derived fresh isolates. Normally, imHCs had intact interferon signaling with anti-viral action. Infected imHCs responded to treatments with direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) and interferons (IFNs) by diminishing HBV DNA, the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) surface antigen of HBV (HBsAg, aka the Australia antigen) and the hepatitis B viral protein (HBeAg). Notably, we could observe and quantify HBV spreading from infected cells to naïve cells using an imHC co-culture model. In summary, this study constructed a convenient HBV culture model that allows the screening for novel anti-HBV agents with versatile targets, either HBV entry, replication or cccDNA formation. Combinations of agents aiming at different targets should achieve a complete HBV eradication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khanit Sa-Ngiamsuntorn
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
| | - Piyanoot Thongsri
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
| | - Yongyut Pewkliang
- Excellent Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
| | - Adisak Wongkajornsilp
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
| | | | - Phichaya Suthivanich
- Excellent Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
| | - Suparerk Borwornpinyo
- Excellent Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
| | - Suradej Hongeng
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
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27
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Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects more than 257 million people globally, resulting in progressively worsening liver disease, manifesting as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The exceptionally narrow species tropism of HBV restricts its natural hosts to humans and non-human primates, including chimpanzees, gorillas, gibbons, and orangutans. The unavailability of completely immunocompetent small-animal models has contributed to the lack of curative therapeutic interventions. Even though surrogates allow the study of closely related viruses, their host genetic backgrounds, immune responses, and molecular virology differ from those of HBV. Various different models, based on either pure murine or xenotransplantation systems, have been introduced over the past years, often making the choice of the optimal model for any given question challenging. Here, we offer a concise review of in vivo model systems employed to study HBV infection and steps in the HBV life cycle or pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Catherine Cherry
- Section of Virology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, W2 1PGLondon, U.K
| | - Harry Gunn
- Section of Virology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, W2 1PGLondon, U.K
| | - Marcus Dorner
- Section of Virology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, W2 1PGLondon, U.K
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28
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Wing PA, Davenne T, Wettengel J, Lai AG, Zhuang X, Chakraborty A, D'Arienzo V, Kramer C, Ko C, Harris JM, Schreiner S, Higgs M, Roessler S, Parish JL, Protzer U, Balfe P, Rehwinkel J, McKeating JA. A dual role for SAMHD1 in regulating HBV cccDNA and RT-dependent particle genesis. Life Sci Alliance 2019; 2:e201900355. [PMID: 30918010 PMCID: PMC6438393 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.201900355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B is one of the world's unconquered diseases with more than 240 million infected subjects at risk of developing liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B virus reverse transcribes pre-genomic RNA to relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) that comprises the infectious particle. To establish infection of a naïve target cell, the newly imported rcDNA is repaired by host enzymes to generate covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which forms the transcriptional template for viral replication. SAMHD1 is a component of the innate immune system that regulates deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate levels required for host and viral DNA synthesis. Here, we show a positive role for SAMHD1 in regulating cccDNA formation, where KO of SAMHD1 significantly reduces cccDNA levels that was reversed by expressing wild-type but not a mutated SAMHD1 lacking the nuclear localization signal. The limited pool of cccDNA in infected Samhd1 KO cells is transcriptionally active, and we observed a 10-fold increase in newly synthesized rcDNA-containing particles, demonstrating a dual role for SAMHD1 to both facilitate cccDNA genesis and to restrict reverse transcriptase-dependent particle genesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Ac Wing
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tamara Davenne
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jochen Wettengel
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Alvina G Lai
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Xiaodong Zhuang
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Anindita Chakraborty
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | | | - Catharina Kramer
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Chunkyu Ko
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - James M Harris
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sabrina Schreiner
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Munich, Germany
| | - Martin Higgs
- Institutes of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and Immunity and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
| | - Stephanie Roessler
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joanna L Parish
- Institutes of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and Immunity and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Munich, Germany
| | - Peter Balfe
- Institutes of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and Immunity and Immunotherapy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
| | - Jan Rehwinkel
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jane A McKeating
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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29
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Spatiotemporal Differences in Presentation of CD8 T Cell Epitopes during Hepatitis B Virus Infection. J Virol 2019; 93:JVI.01457-18. [PMID: 30518652 PMCID: PMC6364024 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01457-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The inability of patients with chronic HBV infection to clear HBV is associated with defective HBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Hence, the majority of immunotherapy developments focus on HBV-specific T cell function restoration. However, knowledge of whether distinct HBV-specific T cells can equally target all the HBV-infected hepatocytes of a chronically infected liver is lacking. In this work, analysis of CHB patient liver parenchyma and in vitro HBV infection models shows a nonuniform distribution of HBV CD8+ T cell epitopes that is influenced by the presence of IFN-γ and availability of newly translated viral antigens. These results suggest that CD8+ T cells recognizing different HBV epitopes can be necessary for efficient immune therapeutic control of chronic HBV infection. Distinct populations of hepatocytes infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or only harboring HBV DNA integrations coexist within an HBV chronically infected liver. These hepatocytes express HBV antigens at different levels and with different intracellular localizations, but it is not known whether this heterogeneity of viral antigen expression could result in an uneven hepatic presentation of distinct HBV epitopes/HLA class I complexes triggering different levels of activation of HBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Using antibodies specific to two distinct HLA-A*02:01/HBV epitope complexes of HBV nucleocapsid and envelope proteins, we mapped their topological distributions in liver biopsy specimens of two anti-hepatitis B e antigen-positive (HBe+) chronic HBV (CHB) patients. We demonstrated that the core and envelope CD8+ T cell epitopes were not uniformly distributed in the liver parenchyma but preferentially located in distinct and sometimes mutually exclusive hepatic zones. The efficiency of HBV epitope presentation was then tested in vitro utilizing HLA-A*02:01/HBV epitope-specific antibodies and the corresponding CD8+ T cells in primary human hepatocyte and hepatoma cell lines either infected with HBV or harboring HBV DNA integration. We confirmed the existence of a marked variability in the efficiency of HLA class I/HBV epitope presentation among the different targets that was influenced by the presence of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and availability of newly translated viral antigens. In conclusion, HBV antigen presentation can be heterogeneous within an HBV-infected liver. As a consequence, CD8+ T cells of different HBV specificities might have different antiviral efficacies. IMPORTANCE The inability of patients with chronic HBV infection to clear HBV is associated with defective HBV-specific CD8+ T cells. Hence, the majority of immunotherapy developments focus on HBV-specific T cell function restoration. However, knowledge of whether distinct HBV-specific T cells can equally target all the HBV-infected hepatocytes of a chronically infected liver is lacking. In this work, analysis of CHB patient liver parenchyma and in vitro HBV infection models shows a nonuniform distribution of HBV CD8+ T cell epitopes that is influenced by the presence of IFN-γ and availability of newly translated viral antigens. These results suggest that CD8+ T cells recognizing different HBV epitopes can be necessary for efficient immune therapeutic control of chronic HBV infection.
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30
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Manske K, Kallin N, König V, Schneider A, Kurz S, Bosch M, Welz M, Cheng R, Bengsch B, Steiger K, Protzer U, Thimme R, Knolle PA, Wohlleber D. Outcome of Antiviral Immunity in the Liver Is Shaped by the Level of Antigen Expressed in Infected Hepatocytes. Hepatology 2018; 68:2089-2105. [PMID: 29729204 PMCID: PMC6585666 DOI: 10.1002/hep.30080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The liver bears unique immune properties that support both immune tolerance and immunity, but the mechanisms responsible for clearance versus persistence of virus-infected hepatocytes remain unclear. Here, we dissect the factors determining the outcome of antiviral immunity using recombinant adenoviruses that reflect the hepatropism and hepatrophism of hepatitis viruses. We generated replication-deficient adenoviruses with equimolar expression of ovalbumin, luciferase, and green fluorescent protein driven by a strong ubiquitous cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter (Ad-CMV-GOL) or by 100-fold weaker, yet hepatocyte-specific, transthyretin (TTR) promoter (Ad-TTR-GOL). Using in vivo bioluminescence to quantitatively and dynamically image luciferase activity, we demonstrated that Ad-TTR-GOL infection always persists, whereas Ad-CMV-GOL infection is always cleared, independent of the number of infected hepatocytes. Failure to clear Ad-TTR-GOL infection involved mechanisms acting during initiation as well as execution of antigen-specific immunity. First, hepatocyte-restricted antigen expression led to delayed and curtailed T-cell expansion-10,000-fold after Ad-CMV-GOL versus 150-fold after Ad-TTR-GOL-infection. Second, CD8 T-cells primed toward antigens selectively expressed by hepatocytes showed high PD-1/Tim-3/LAG-3/CTLA-4/CD160 expression levels similar to that seen in chronic hepatitis B. Third, Ad-TTR-GOL but not Ad-CMV-GOL-infected hepatocytes escaped being killed by effector T-cells while still inducing high PD-1/Tim-3/LAG-3/CTLA-4/CD160 expression, indicating different thresholds of T-cell receptor signaling relevant for triggering effector functions compared with exhaustion. Conclusion: Our study identifies deficits in the generation of CD8 T-cell immunity toward hepatocyte-expressed antigens and escape of infected hepatocytes expressing low viral antigen levels from effector T-cell killing as independent factors promoting viral persistence. This highlights the importance of addressing both the restauration of CD8 T-cell dysfunction and overcoming local hurdles of effector T-cell function to eliminate virus-infected hepatocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Manske
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Nina Kallin
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Verena König
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Annika Schneider
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Sandra Kurz
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Miriam Bosch
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Meike Welz
- Institute of Experimental ImmunologyUniversity Hospital Bonn, University of BonnGermany
| | - Ru‐Lin Cheng
- Institute of Experimental ImmunologyUniversity Hospital Bonn, University of BonnGermany
| | | | - Katja Steiger
- Institute of PathologyTechnical University of MunichGermany
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Virology and Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of Munich and Helmholtz Center for Environment and HealthMunichGermany
- German Center for Infection ResearchMunichGermany
| | - Robert Thimme
- University Hospital FreiburgUniversity of FreiburgGermany
| | - Percy A. Knolle
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
- Institute of Experimental ImmunologyUniversity Hospital Bonn, University of BonnGermany
- German Center for Infection ResearchMunichGermany
| | - Dirk Wohlleber
- Institute of Molecular Immunology and Experimental Oncology, Klinikum Rechts der IsarTechnical University of MunichGermany
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31
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Abstract
Even with an effective vaccine, an estimated 240 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide. Current antiviral therapies, including interferon and nucleot(s)ide analogues, rarely cure chronic hepatitis B. Animal models are very crucial for understanding the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B and developing new therapeutic drugs or strategies. HBV can only infect humans and chimpanzees, with the use of chimpanzees in HBV research strongly restricted. Thus, most advances in HBV research have been gained using mouse models with HBV replication or infection or models with HBV-related hepadnaviral infection. This review summarizes the animal models currently available for the study of HBV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Na Guo
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430022, China
| | - Bin Zhu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430022, China
| | - Ling Ai
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430022, China
| | - Dong-Liang Yang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430022, China
| | - Bao-Ju Wang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan Hubei 430022, China.
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32
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Li G, Zhu Y, Shao D, Chang H, Zhang X, Zhou D, Gao Y, Lan K, Deng Q. Recombinant covalently closed circular DNA of hepatitis B virus induces long-term viral persistence with chronic hepatitis in a mouse model. Hepatology 2018; 67:56-70. [PMID: 28749559 DOI: 10.1002/hep.29406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2017] [Revised: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Covalently closed circular DNA of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is critical for viral persistence in vivo. We recently reported a technique involving recombinant covalently closed circular DNA (rcccDNA) of HBV by site-specific DNA recombination. Using hydrodynamic injection, rcccDNA induces a temporarily prolonged HBV antigenemia in immunocompetent mice, similar to acute resolving HBV infection. In this study, we simulated the pathophysiological impact of chronic hepatitis to reproduce rcccDNA persistence in mouse models. We showed that rcccDNA achieved long-lasting persistence in the presence of a compromised immune response or when transcriptional activity was repressed. To closely mimic chronic hepatitis, we used a replication-defective recombinant adenoviral vector to deliver rcccDNA to the liver, which led to prominent HBV persistence throughout the experiment duration (>62 weeks) in transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase under the albumin promoter. A sustained necroinflammatory response and fibrosis were identified in mouse livers, with dysplastic lesions commonly seen during the late stage of viral persistence, analogous to the progressive pathology of clinical chronic hepatitis. CONCLUSION rcccDNA was intrinsically stable in vivo, enabling long-term persistence in the context of chronic hepatitis, and viral persistence, in turn, may promote progression of chronic liver disease; our study also presented a surrogate model of HBV cccDNA persistence in mice that could advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B. (Hepatology 2018;67:56-70).
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaiyun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China.,Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE & MOH), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuanfei Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE & MOH), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.,Department of Hepatopathy, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Dianhui Shao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Chang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China.,Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE & MOH), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoming Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Dongming Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Yueqiu Gao
- Department of Hepatopathy, Shuguang Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ke Lan
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Qiang Deng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology & Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai, China.,Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE & MOH), School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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33
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Hepatitis B virus persistence in mice reveals IL-21 and IL-33 as regulators of viral clearance. Nat Commun 2017; 8:2119. [PMID: 29242561 PMCID: PMC5730569 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02304-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) generally causes self-limiting infection in immunocompetent adults, but establishes chronic infection in some adults and in most maternally infected infants. Factors determining clearance versus persistence are not fully understood. Hydrodynamic injection (HDI) of HBV replicon plasmid via tail vein generally results in quick clearance in immunocompetent adult mice. Here, we report the identification of strain-specific persistence of HBV in mice: one genotype B strain, designated BPS, persisted up to 33 weeks in ~50% of HDI mice. BPS persistence requires viral replication and multiple viral features. Compared to quickly cleared strains, BPS fails to induce robust post-exposure serum IL-21/IL-33 responses. Injection of IL-21-expressing or IL-33-expressing plasmids facilitates clearance of pre-established BPS persistence and protects cured mice from BPS re-challenge. IL-21 and IL-33 also induce clearance of pre-established HBV persistence in another mouse model. These data reveal IL-21 and IL-33 as potent regulators of HBV clearance and valid drug candidates. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) establishes chronic infection in only some patients, but the mechanisms underlying clearance failure in these patients are not fully understood. Here, the authors identify and characterize an HBV strain that can persist in mice and show that IL-21 and IL-33 responses contribute to clearance.
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34
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Li X, Zhou K, He H, Zhou Q, Sun Y, Hou L, Shen L, Wang X, Zhou Y, Gong Z, He S, Jin H, Gu Z, Zhao S, Zhang L, Sun C, Zheng S, Cheng Z, Zhu Y, Zhang M, Li J, Chen S. Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Tetrahydropyrrolo[1,2- c]pyrimidines as Capsid Assembly Inhibitors for HBV Treatment. ACS Med Chem Lett 2017; 8:969-974. [PMID: 28947946 PMCID: PMC5601373 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.7b00288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of novel tetrahydropyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidines derivatives from Bay41_4109 as hepatitis B virus (HBV) inhibitors is herein reported. The structure-activity relationship optimization led to one highly efficacious compound 28a (IC50 = 10 nM) with good PK profiles and the favorite L/P ratio. The hydrodynamic injection model in mice clearly demonstrated the efficacy of 28a against HBV replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolin Li
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Kai Zhou
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Haiying He
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Qiong Zhou
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Ya Sun
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Lijuan Hou
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Liang Shen
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Xiaofei Wang
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Yuedong Zhou
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Zhen Gong
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Shibo He
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Huangtao Jin
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Zhengxian Gu
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Shuyong Zhao
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Long Zhang
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Chunyan Sun
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Shansong Zheng
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Zhe Cheng
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Yidong Zhu
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Minghui Zhang
- Shandong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Small Molecular Targeted Drugs, Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., No. 243 Gong Ye Bei Road, Jinan, Shandong Province 250100, P. R. China
| | - Jian Li
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
| | - Shuhui Chen
- WuXi
AppTec (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 288 FuTe Zhong Road, Shanghai 200131, P. R. China
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35
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Kruse RL, Shum T, Legras X, Barzi M, Pankowicz FP, Gottschalk S, Bissig KD. In Situ Liver Expression of HBsAg/CD3-Bispecific Antibodies for HBV Immunotherapy. MOLECULAR THERAPY-METHODS & CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT 2017; 7:32-41. [PMID: 29018834 PMCID: PMC5626922 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2017.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Current therapies against hepatitis B virus (HBV) do not reliably cure chronic infection, necessitating new therapeutic approaches. The T cell response can clear HBV during acute infection, and the adoptive transfer of antiviral T cells during bone marrow transplantation can cure patients of chronic HBV infection. To redirect T cells to HBV-infected hepatocytes, we delivered plasmids encoding bispecific antibodies directed against the viral surface antigen (HBsAg) and CD3, expressed on almost all T cells, directly into the liver using hydrodynamic tail vein injection. We found a significant reduction in HBV-driven reporter gene expression (184-fold) in a mouse model of acute infection, which was 30-fold lower than an antibody only recognizing HBsAg. While bispecific antibodies triggered, in part, antigen-independent T cell activation, antibody production within hepatocytes was non-cytotoxic. We next tested the bispecific antibodies in a different HBV mouse model, which closely mimics the transcriptional template for HBV, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). We found that the antiviral effect was noncytopathic, mediating a 495-fold reduction in HBsAg levels at day 4. At day 33, bispecific antibody-treated mice exhibited 35-fold higher host HBsAg immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody production versus untreated groups. Thus, gene therapy with HBsAg/CD3-bispecific antibodies represents a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with HBV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Kruse
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Thomas Shum
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Xavier Legras
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Mercedes Barzi
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Frank P Pankowicz
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Stephen Gottschalk
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Texas Children's Cancer Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Karl-Dimiter Bissig
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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36
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Huang M, Sun R, Huang Q, Tian Z. Technical Improvement and Application of Hydrodynamic Gene Delivery in Study of Liver Diseases. Front Pharmacol 2017; 8:591. [PMID: 28912718 PMCID: PMC5582077 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Development of an safe and efficient in vivo gene delivery method is indispensable for molecular biology research and the progress in the following gene therapy. Over the past few years, hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) with naked DNA has drawn increasing interest in both research and potential clinic applications due to its high efficiency and low risk in triggering immune responses and carcinogenesis in comparison to viral vectors. This method, involving intravenous injection (i.v.) of massive DNA in a short duration, gives a transient but high in vivo gene expression especially in the liver of small animals. In addition to DNA, it has also been shown to deliver other substance such as RNA, proteins, synthetic small compounds and even viruses in vivo. Given its ability to robustly mimic in vivo hepatitis B virus (HBV) production in liver, HGD has become a fundamental and important technology on HBV studies in our group and many other groups. Recently, there have been interesting reports about the applications and further improvement of this technology in other liver research. Here, we review the principle, safety, current application and development of hydrodynamic delivery in liver disease studies, and discuss its future prospects, clinical potential and challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei Huang
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Rui Sun
- Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences and Medical Center, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China
| | - Qiang Huang
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Anhui Medical UniversityHefei, China
| | - Zhigang Tian
- Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences and Medical Center, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China
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Hepatitis B Virus Activates Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 Supporting Hepatocyte Survival and Virus Replication. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2017; 4:339-363. [PMID: 28884137 PMCID: PMC5581872 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2017.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS The human hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma, but molecular mechanisms driving liver disease and carcinogenesis are largely unknown. We therefore studied cellular pathways altered by HBV infection. METHODS We performed gene expression profiling of primary human hepatocytes infected with HBV and proved the results in HBV-replicating cell lines and human liver tissue using real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3) was examined in HBV-replicating human hepatocytes, HBV-replicating mice, and liver tissue from HBV-infected individuals using Western blotting, STAT3-luciferase reporter assay, and immunohistochemistry. The consequences of STAT3 activation on HBV infection and cell survival were studied by chemical inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation and small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of STAT3. RESULTS Gene expression profiling of HBV-infected primary human hepatocytes detected no interferon response, while genes encoding for acute phase and antiapoptotic proteins were up-regulated. This gene regulation was confirmed in liver tissue samples of patients with chronic HBV infection and in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma. Pathway analysis revealed activation of STAT3 to be the major regulator. Interleukin-6-dependent and -independent activation of STAT3 was detected in HBV-replicating hepatocytes in cell culture and in vivo. Prevention of STAT3 activation by inhibition of Janus tyrosine kinases as well as small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of STAT3-induced apoptosis and reduced HBV replication and gene expression. CONCLUSIONS HBV activates STAT3 signaling in hepatocytes to foster its own replication but also to prevent apoptosis of infected cells. This very likely supports HBV-related carcinogenesis.
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Key Words
- APR, acute phase response
- Apoptosis
- CRP, C-reactive protein
- DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide
- FCS, fetal calf serum
- HBV pg RNA, hepatitis B pregenomic RNA
- HBV, Hepatitis B virus
- HBVtg, hepatitis B transgenic
- HBeAg, hepatitis B early antigen
- HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma
- HNF, hepatocyte nuclear factor
- Hepatitis B Virus Infection
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- IFN, interferon
- IL-6, interleukin 6
- IRF3, interferon regulatory factor 3
- NAC, N-acetyl-L-cysteine
- PCR, polymerase chain reaction
- PHH, primary human hepatocyte
- ROS, reactive oxygen species
- RT, reverse transcription
- STAT3 Signaling
- STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
- cDNA, complementary DNA
- cRNA, complementary RNA
- cccDNA, covalently closed circular DNA
- mRNA, messenger RNA
- p.i., postinfection
- pSTAT3, phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
- pgRNA, pregenomic RNA
- siRNA, small interfering RNA
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Zhao W, Zhou X, Zhao G, Lin Q, Wang X, Yu X, Wang B. Enrichment of Ly6C hi monocytes by multiple GM-CSF injections with HBV vaccine contributes to viral clearance in a HBV mouse model. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2017; 13:2872-2882. [PMID: 28699816 PMCID: PMC5718782 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2017.1344797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Adjuvants are considered a necessary component for HBV therapeutic vaccines but few are licensed in clinical practice due to concerns about safety or efficiency. In our recent study, we established that a combination protocol of 3-day pretreatments with GM-CSF before a vaccination (3 × GM-CSF+VACCINE) into the same injection site could break immune tolerance and cause over 90% reduction of HBsAg level in the HBsAg transgenic mouse model. Herein, we further investigated the therapeutic potential of the combination in AAV8–1.3HBV-infected mice. After 4 vaccinations, both serum HBeAg and HBsAg were cleared and there was a 95% reduction of HBV-positive hepatocytes, in addition to the presence of large number of infiltrating CD8+ T cells in the livers. Mechanistically, the HBV-specific T-cell responses were elicited via a 3 × GM-CSF+VACCINE-induced conversion of CCR2-dependent CD11b+ Ly6Chi monocytes into CD11b+CD11c+ DCs. Experimental depletion of Ly6Chi monocytes resulted in a defective HBV-specific immune response thereby abrogating HBV eradication. This vaccination strategy could lead to development of an effective therapeutic protocol against chronic HBV in infected patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weidong Zhao
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Xian Zhou
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Gan Zhao
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Qing Lin
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Xianzheng Wang
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Xueping Yu
- b Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
| | - Bin Wang
- a Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences , Fudan University , Shanghai , China
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Lucifora J, Salvetti A, Marniquet X, Mailly L, Testoni B, Fusil F, Inchauspé A, Michelet M, Michel ML, Levrero M, Cortez P, Baumert TF, Cosset FL, Challier C, Zoulim F, Durantel D. Detection of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently-closed-circular DNA (cccDNA) in mice transduced with a recombinant AAV-HBV vector. Antiviral Res 2017; 145:14-19. [PMID: 28709657 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 07/09/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) persists in infected hepatocytes as an episomal covalently-closed-circular DNA mini-chromosome, called cccDNA. As the main nuclear transcription template, HBV cccDNA is a key replication intermediate in the viral life cycle. Little is known about the mechanisms involved in its formation, maintenance and fate under antiviral therapies. This is mainly due to the lack of small immune-competent animal models able to recapitulate the entire HBV replication cycle, including formation of HBV cccDNA. Here we report that HBV cccDNA can be detected by Southern blot analyses in the liver of C57BL6 mice transduced with AAV-HBV. HBV cccDNA persists in the liver of these animals together with the AAV-HBV episome. We also set up a PCR strategy to distinguish the HBV cccDNA from the AAV-HBV episome. These suggest that the AAV-HBV/mouse model might be relevant to test drugs targeting HBV cccDNA regulation and persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Lucifora
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Anna Salvetti
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Xavier Marniquet
- Sanofi R&D, Infectious Disease Therapeutic Area, Marcy l'Etoile, France
| | - Laurent Mailly
- INSERM U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Barbara Testoni
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Floriane Fusil
- INSERM, U1111, International Center for Infectiology Research (CIRI), Team EVIR, Inserm, U1111, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR5308, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Univ Lyon, F-69007, Lyon, France
| | - Aurore Inchauspé
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France; Sanofi R&D, Infectious Disease Therapeutic Area, Marcy l'Etoile, France
| | - Maud Michelet
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | | | - Massimo Levrero
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Pierre Cortez
- Sanofi R&D, Infectious Disease Therapeutic Area, Marcy l'Etoile, France
| | - Thomas F Baumert
- INSERM U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire, Pôle Hépato-digestif, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - François-Loic Cosset
- INSERM, U1111, International Center for Infectiology Research (CIRI), Team EVIR, Inserm, U1111, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR5308, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Univ Lyon, F-69007, Lyon, France
| | - Cécile Challier
- Sanofi R&D, Infectious Disease Therapeutic Area, Marcy l'Etoile, France
| | - Fabien Zoulim
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France; Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), Lyon, France; Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France.
| | - David Durantel
- INSERM, U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL1), CNRS UMR_5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France.
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Dandri M, Petersen J. Animal models of HBV infection. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol 2017; 31:273-279. [PMID: 28774409 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2017.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The mechanisms determining hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence and pathogenesis are not fully elucidated, but appear to be multi-factorial. Current medication to repress viral replication is available; however, the unique replication strategies employed by HBV enable the virus to persist within the infected hepatocytes. Consequently, cure is rarely achieved. Progresses in HBV research and preclinical testing of antiviral agents have been limited by the narrow species- and tissue-tropism of the virus, the paucity of infection models available and the restrictions imposed by the use of chimpanzees, the only animals fully susceptible to HBV infection. Mice are not HBV permissive but major efforts have focused on the development of mouse models of HBV replication and infection, such as the generation of humanized mice. By presenting the different animal models available, this review will highlight the most important and clinically relevant findings that have been retrieved from the respective systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maura Dandri
- I. Department of Medicine, Center for Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel Site, Germany.
| | - Joerg Petersen
- IFI Institute for Interdisciplinary Medicine at Asklepios Clinic St. Georg, Hamburg, Germany
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Kosinska AD, Bauer T, Protzer U. Therapeutic vaccination for chronic hepatitis B. Curr Opin Virol 2017; 23:75-81. [PMID: 28453967 DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2017.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2017] [Revised: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
A therapeutic vaccine is meant to activate the patient's immune system to fight and finally control or ideally eliminate an already established infectious pathogen. Whereas the success of prophylactic vaccination is based on rapid antibody-mediated neutralization of an invading pathogen, control and elimination of persistent viruses such as hepatitis, herpes or papilloma viruses requires multi-specific and polyfunctional effector T cell responses. These are ideally directed against continuously expressed viral antigens to keep the pathogen in check. Activation of a humoral immune response in order to lower viral antigen load and to limit virus spread, however, confers an additional benefit. Therapeutic vaccines are under development for a number of chronic infections and require an intelligent vaccine design. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may serve as a prime example since a spontaneous, immune-mediated recovery of chronic hepatitis B and an elimination of the virus is possible even if it is observed only in very rare cases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge and potential improvements of therapeutic vaccines for chronic hepatitis B.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna D Kosinska
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Germany
| | - Tanja Bauer
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Germany
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Virology, Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Germany.
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Sandhu P, Haque M, Humphries-Bickley T, Ravi S, Song J. Hepatitis B Virus Immunopathology, Model Systems, and Current Therapies. Front Immunol 2017; 8:436. [PMID: 28450868 PMCID: PMC5390110 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Most people develop acute hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatitis that is controlled by both humoral and cellular immune responses following acute infection. However, a number of individuals in HBV-endemic areas fail to resolve the infection and consequently become chronic carriers. While a vaccine is available and new antiviral drugs are being developed, elimination of persistently infected cells is still a major issue. Standard treatment in HBV infection includes IFN-α, nucleoside, or nucleotide analogs, which has direct antiviral activity and immune modulatory capacities. However, immunological control of the virus is often not durable. A robust T-cell response is associated with control of HBV infection and liver damage; however, HBV-specific T cells are deleted, dysfunctional, or become exhausted in chronic hepatitis patients. As a result, efforts to restore virus-specific T-cell immunity in chronic HBV patients using antiviral therapy, immunomodulatory cytokines, or therapeutic vaccination have had little success. Adoptive cell transfer of T cells with specificity for HBV antigen+ cells represents an approach aiming to ultimately eliminate residual hepatocytes carrying HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Here, we discuss recent findings describing HBV immunopathology, model systems, and current therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praneet Sandhu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Mohammad Haque
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Tessa Humphries-Bickley
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Swetha Ravi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Jianxun Song
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
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Li B, Sun S, Li M, Cheng X, Li H, Kang F, Kang J, Dörnbrack K, Nassal M, Sun D. Suppression of hepatitis B virus antigen production and replication by wild-type HBV dependently replicating HBV shRNA vectors in vitro and in vivo. Antiviral Res 2016; 134:117-129. [PMID: 27591142 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2016.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Revised: 07/07/2016] [Accepted: 08/07/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), a small DNA virus that replicates by reverse transcription of a pregenomic (pg) RNA precursor, greatly increases the risk for terminal liver disease. RNA interference (RNAi) based therapy approaches have shown potential to overcome the limited efficacy of current treatments. However, synthetic siRNAs as well as small hairpin (sh) RNAs expressed from non-integrating vectors require repeated applications; integrating vectors suffer from safety concerns. We pursue a new concept by which HBV itself is engineered into a conditionally replicating, wild-type HBV dependent anti-HBV shRNA vector. Beyond sharing HBV's hepatocyte tropism, such a vector would be self-renewing, but only as long as wild-type HBV is present. Here, we realized several important aspects of this concept. We identified two distinct regions in the 3.2 kb HBV genome which tolerate replacement by shRNA expression cassettes without compromising reverse transcription when complemented in vitro by HBV helper constructs or by wild-type HBV; a representative HBV shRNA vector was infectious in cell culture. The vector-encoded shRNAs were active, including on HBV as target. A dual anti-HBV shRNA vector delivered into HBV transgenic mice, which are not susceptible to HBV infection, by a chimeric adenovirus-HBV shuttle reduced serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) up to ∼4-fold, and virus particles up to ∼20-fold. Importantly, a fraction of the circulating particles contained vector-derived DNA, indicating successful complementation in vivo. These data encourage further investigations to prove antiviral efficacy and the predicted self-limiting vector spread in a small animal HBV infection model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baosheng Li
- Chinese PLA Medical School, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 100853, Beijing, PR China; The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China
| | - Shuo Sun
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China; Troop 66220 of PLA, Xingtai, Hebei Province, 054000, PR China
| | - Minran Li
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China; The Fourth Department of the Fifth Hospital, Shijiazhuang City, 050017, PR China
| | - Xin Cheng
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China
| | - Haijun Li
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China
| | - Fubiao Kang
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China
| | - Jiwen Kang
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China
| | - Katharina Dörnbrack
- Internal Medicine II/Molecular Biology, University Hospital Freiburg, D-79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Michael Nassal
- Internal Medicine II/Molecular Biology, University Hospital Freiburg, D-79106, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Dianxing Sun
- The Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of PLA, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082, PR China.
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Qiu Z, Lin X, Zhou M, Liu Y, Zhu W, Chen W, Zhang W, Guo L, Liu H, Wu G, Huang M, Jiang M, Xu Z, Zhou Z, Qin N, Ren S, Qiu H, Zhong S, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Wu X, Shi L, Shen F, Mao Y, Zhou X, Yang W, Wu JZ, Yang G, Mayweg AV, Shen HC, Tang G. Design and Synthesis of Orally Bioavailable 4-Methyl Heteroaryldihydropyrimidine Based Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Capsid Inhibitors. J Med Chem 2016; 59:7651-66. [PMID: 27458651 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Targeting the capsid protein of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and thus interrupting normal capsid formation have been an attractive approach to block the replication of HBV viruses. We carried out multidimensional structural optimizations based on the heteroaryldihydropyrimidine (HAP) analogue Bay41-4109 (1) and identified a novel series of HBV capsid inhibitors that demonstrated promising cellular selectivity indexes, metabolic stabilities, and in vitro safety profiles. Herein we disclose the design, synthesis, structure-activity relationship (SAR), cocrystal structure in complex with HBV capsid proteins and in vivo pharmacological study of the 4-methyl HAP analogues. In particular, the (2S,4S)-4,4-difluoroproline substituted analogue 34a demonstrated high oral bioavailability and liver exposure and achieved over 2 log viral load reduction in a hydrodynamic injected (HDI) HBV mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongxing Qiu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Xianfeng Lin
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Mingwei Zhou
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Yongfu Liu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Wei Zhu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Wenming Chen
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Weixing Zhang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Lei Guo
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Haixia Liu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Guolong Wu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Mengwei Huang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Min Jiang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Zhiheng Xu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Zheng Zhou
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Ning Qin
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Shuang Ren
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Hongxia Qiu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Sheng Zhong
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Yuxia Zhang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Xiaoyue Wu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Liping Shi
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Fang Shen
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Yi Mao
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Xue Zhou
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Wengang Yang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Jim Z Wu
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Guang Yang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Alexander V Mayweg
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Hong C Shen
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
| | - Guozhi Tang
- Roche Innovation Center Shanghai, ‡Medicinal Chemistry, §Chemical Biology, ∥Pharmaceutical Sciences, and ⊥Discovery Virology, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development , 720 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203 China
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Experimental in vitro and in vivo models for the study of human hepatitis B virus infection. J Hepatol 2016; 64:S17-S31. [PMID: 27084033 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Revised: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects an estimate of 240 million people worldwide despite the availability of a preventive vaccine. Medication to repress viral replication is available but a cure is rarely achieved. The narrow species and tissue tropism of the virus and the lack of reliable in vitro models and laboratory animals susceptible to HBV infection, have limited research progress in the past. As a result, several aspects of the HBV life cycle as well as the network of virus host interactions occurring during the infection are not yet understood. Only recently, the identification of the functional cellular receptor enabling HBV entry has opened new possibilities to establish innovative infection systems. Regarding the in vivo models of HBV infection, the classical reference was the chimpanzee. However, because of the strongly restricted use of great apes for HBV research, major efforts have focused on the development of mouse models of HBV replication and infection such as the generation of humanized mice. This review summarizes the animal and cell culture based models currently available for the study of HBV biology. We will discuss the benefits and caveats of each model and present a selection of the most important findings that have been retrieved from the respective systems.
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Zeisel MB, Lucifora J, Mason WS, Sureau C, Beck J, Levrero M, Kann M, Knolle PA, Benkirane M, Durantel D, Michel ML, Autran B, Cosset FL, Strick-Marchand H, Trépo C, Kao JH, Carrat F, Lacombe K, Schinazi RF, Barré-Sinoussi F, Delfraissy JF, Zoulim F. Towards an HBV cure: state-of-the-art and unresolved questions--report of the ANRS workshop on HBV cure. Gut 2015; 64:1314-26. [PMID: 25670809 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2014-308943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 207] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 01/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
HBV infection is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although HBV infection can be efficiently prevented by vaccination, and treatments are available, to date there is no reliable cure for the >240 million individuals that are chronically infected worldwide. Current treatments can only achieve viral suppression, and lifelong therapy is needed in the majority of infected persons. In the framework of the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis 'HBV Cure' programme, a scientific workshop was held in Paris in June 2014 to define the state-of-the-art and unanswered questions regarding HBV pathobiology, and to develop a concerted strategy towards an HBV cure. This review summarises our current understanding of HBV host-interactions leading to viral persistence, as well as the roadblocks to be overcome to ultimately address unmet medical needs in the treatment of chronic HBV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam B Zeisel
- Inserm, U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Strasbourg, France Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Julie Lucifora
- Inserm U1052, CNRS UMR 5286, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL), Lyon, France
| | | | - Camille Sureau
- INTS, Laboratoire de Virologie Moléculaire, Paris, France
| | - Jürgen Beck
- Department of Internal Medicine 2/Molecular Biology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Massimo Levrero
- Center for Life Nanosciences (CNLS)-IIT/Sapienza, Rome, Italy Laboratory of Gene Expression, Department of Internal Medicine (DMISM), Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Michael Kann
- Université de Bordeaux, Microbiologie fondamentale et Pathogénicité, UMR 5234, Bordeaux, France CNRS, Microbiologie fondamentale et Pathogénicité, UMR 5234, Bordeaux, France CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Percy A Knolle
- Technische Universität München, Institut für Molekulare Immunologie, München, Germany
| | - Monsef Benkirane
- Institut de Génétique Humaine, Laboratoire de Virologie Moléculaire, CNRS UPR1142, Montpellier, France
| | - David Durantel
- Inserm U1052, CNRS UMR 5286, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL), Lyon, France
| | - Marie-Louise Michel
- Laboratoire de Pathogenèse des Virus de l'Hépatite B, Département de Virologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Brigitte Autran
- Laboratory of Immunity and Infection, Inserm U945, Paris, France Laboratory of Immunity and Infection, UPMC University Paris 06, Unité mixte de recherche-S945, Paris, France Inserm, IFR 113, Immunité-Cancer-Infection, Paris, France
| | - François-Loïc Cosset
- CIRI-International Center for Infectiology Research, Team EVIR, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France. Inserm, U1111, Lyon, France Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France. CNRS, UMR5308, Lyon, France LabEx Ecofect, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | | | - Christian Trépo
- Inserm U1052, CNRS UMR 5286, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL), Lyon, France Department of Hepatology, Croix-Rousse Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Jia-Horng Kao
- Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Medical Research, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, and Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Fabrice Carrat
- Inserm, UMR_S 1136, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Paris, France Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, France
| | - Karine Lacombe
- Inserm, UMR_S 1136, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Paris, France Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint Antoine, Paris, France
| | - Raymond F Schinazi
- Center for AIDS Research, Emory University School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
- Inserm and Unit of Regulation of Retroviral Infections, Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | | | - Fabien Zoulim
- Inserm U1052, CNRS UMR 5286, Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL), Université de Lyon (UCBL), Lyon, France Department of Hepatology, Croix-Rousse Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France
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Chang J, Guo JT. Treatment of chronic hepatitis B with pattern recognition receptor agonists: Current status and potential for a cure. Antiviral Res 2015. [PMID: 26205674 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2015.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been considered to be a "stealth virus" that induces negligible innate immune responses during the early phase of infection. However, recent studies with newly developed experimental systems have revealed that virus infection can be recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRR), eliciting a cytokine response that controls the replication of the virus. The molecular mechanisms by which interferons and other inflammatory cytokines suppress HBV replication and modulate HBV cccDNA metabolism and function are just beginning to be revealed. In agreement with the notion that the developmental and functional status of intrahepatic innate immunity determines the activation and maturation of the HBV-specific adaptive immune response and thus the outcome of HBV infection, pharmacological activation of intrahepatic innate immune responses with TLR7/8/9 or STING agonists efficiently controls HBV infection in preclinical studies and thus holds great promise for the cure of chronic hepatitis B. This article forms part of a symposium in Antiviral Research on "An unfinished story: from the discovery of the Australia antigen to the development of new curative therapies for hepatitis B."
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinhong Chang
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Hepatitis B Foundation, 3805 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902, USA.
| | - Ju-Tao Guo
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Hepatitis B Foundation, 3805 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902, USA
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Chen J, Wu M, Liu K, Zhang W, Li Y, Zhou X, Bai L, Yuan Z. New insights into hepatitis B virus biology and implications for novel antiviral strategies. Natl Sci Rev 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwv044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a small DNA virus with a unique replication mode, can cause chronic hepatitis (CHB), which is characterized by the persistence of the viral covalently closed circular DNA that serves as the template for HBV replication and the production of large amounts of secreted HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) that is present in excess of the levels of infectious virus. Despite the success of currently approved antiviral treatments for CHB patients, including interferon and nucleotide analogs, which suppress HBV replication and reduce the risk of CHB-related liver diseases, these therapies fail to eradicate the virus in most of the patients. With the development of the cell and animal models for HBV study, a better understanding of the HBV life cycle has been achieved and a series of novel antiviral strategies that target different stages of HBV replication have been designed to overcome the viral factors that contribute to HBV persistence. Such basic HBV research advancements and therapeutic developments are the subject of this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jieliang Chen
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
- Research Unit, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China
| | - Min Wu
- Research Unit, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China
| | - Kuancheng Liu
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
- Institutes of Medical Microbiology and Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Wen Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
- Research Unit, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China
| | - Yaming Li
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Xiaohui Zhou
- Research Unit, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China
| | - Lu Bai
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Zhenghong Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Ministry of Education and Health, and Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
- Institutes of Medical Microbiology and Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
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50
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Cheng L, Li F, Bility MT, Murphy CM, Su L. Modeling hepatitis B virus infection, immunopathology and therapy in mice. Antiviral Res 2015; 121:1-8. [PMID: 26099683 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2015.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2015] [Revised: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 06/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Despite the availability of a preventive vaccine, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection-induced liver diseases continue to be a major global public health problem. HBV naturally infects only humans and chimpanzees. This narrow host range has hindered our ability to study the characteristics of the virus and how it interacts with its host. It is thus important to establish small animal models to study HBV infection, persistence, clearance and the immunopathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B. In this review, we briefly summarize currently available animal models for HBV research, then focus on mouse models, especially the recently developed humanized mice that can support HBV infection and immunopathogenesis in vivo. This article is part of a symposium in Antiviral Research on "From the discovery of the Australia antigen to the development of new curative therapies for hepatitis B: an unfinished story."
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Cheng
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Feng Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Moses T Bility
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Christopher M Murphy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Lishan Su
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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