Hepatitis B virus RNA-binding proteins associated with cytokine-induced clearance of viral RNA from the liver of transgenic mice.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene expression is downregulated in the liver of HBV transgenic mice by a posttranscriptional mechanism that is triggered by the local production of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) during intrahepatic inflammation (hepatitis). The molecular basis for this antiviral effect is unknown. In this study, we identified three HBV RNA-binding liver nuclear proteins (p45, p39, and p26) the relative abundance of which correlates with the abundance of HBV RNA in response to the induction of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. All three proteins bind to a 91-bp element located at the 5' end of a previously defined posttranscriptional regulatory element that is thought to mediate the nuclear export of HBV RNA. The presence of p45 correlates directly

SUBMITTER: Heise T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC103854 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature