Hepatitis B virus X protein inhibits tumor suppressor miR-205 through inducing hypermethylation of miR-205 promoter to enhance carcinogenesis.

ABSTRACT: The infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is closely associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in which HBV X protein (HBx) plays crucial roles. MicroRNAs are involved in diverse biologic functions and in carcinogenesis by regulating gene expression. In the present study, we aim to investigate the underlying mechanism by which HBx enhances hepatocarcinogenesis. We found that miR-205 was downregulated in 33 clinical HCC tissues in comparison with adjacent noncancerous hepatic tissues. The expression levels of miR-205 were inversely correlated with those of HBx in abovementioned tissues. Then, we demonstrated that HBx was able to suppress miR-205 expression in hepatoma and liver cells. We validated that miR-205 directly targeted HBx mRNA. Ectopic expression of miR-205

SUBMITTER: Zhang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3858896 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature