Project description:Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been established to cause hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the exact mechanism remains to be clarified. Type II ground glass hepatocytes (GGH) harboring the HBV pre-S2 mutant large surface protein have been recognized as morphologically distinct hallmark of HCC in advanced stages of chronic HBV infection. Considering its pre-neoplastic nature, we hypothesized that type II GGH may exhibit high genomic instability, which is important for the carcinogenic process in chronic HBV carriers. In this study we found that pre-S2 mutant LHBS directly interacted with importin 1, the key factor that recognizes cargos undergoing nuclear transportation mediated by the importin 1 associated nuclear pore complex (NPC). By interacting with importin 1, which inhibits its function as an NPC factor, pre-S2 mutant LHBS blocked nuclear transportation of an essential DNA repair and recombination factor Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1) upon DNA damage, thereby delaying formation of nuclear foci at the sites of DNA double strand breaks. Pre-S2 mutant LHBS was also found to block NBS1-mediated homologous recombination repair and induce multi-nucleation of cells. In addition, pre-S2 mutant LHBS transgenic mice showed genomic instability indicated by increased global gene copy number variations (CNV), which were significantly higher than those in hepatitis B virus X mice, indicating that pre-S2 mutant LHBS is the major viral oncoprotein inducing genomic instability in HBV-infected hepatocytes. Consistently, the human type II GGHs in HCC patients exhibited increased DNA double-strand breaks representing significant genomic instability. In conclusion, type II GGH harboring HBV pre-S2 mutant oncoprotein represents a high-risk marker for the loss of genome integrity in chronic HBV carriers and explains the complex chromosome changes in HCCs.
Project description:Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been established to cause hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the exact mechanism remains to be clarified. Type II ground glass hepatocytes (GGH) harboring the HBV pre-S2 mutant large surface protein have been recognized as morphologically distinct hallmark of HCC in advanced stages of chronic HBV infection. Considering its pre-neoplastic nature, we hypothesized that type II GGH may exhibit high genomic instability, which is important for the carcinogenic process in chronic HBV carriers. In this study we found that pre-S2 mutant LHBS directly interacted with importin 1, the key factor that recognizes cargos undergoing nuclear transportation mediated by the importin 1 associated nuclear pore complex (NPC). By interacting with importin 1, which inhibits its function as an NPC factor, pre-S2 mutant LHBS blocked nuclear transportation of an essential DNA repair and recombination factor Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1) upon DNA damage, thereby delaying formation of nuclear foci at the sites of DNA double strand breaks. Pre-S2 mutant LHBS was also found to block NBS1-mediated homologous recombination repair and induce multi-nucleation of cells. In addition, pre-S2 mutant LHBS transgenic mice showed genomic instability indicated by increased global gene copy number variations (CNV), which were significantly higher than those in hepatitis B virus X mice, indicating that pre-S2 mutant LHBS is the major viral oncoprotein inducing genomic instability in HBV-infected hepatocytes. Consistently, the human type II GGHs in HCC patients exhibited increased DNA double-strand breaks representing significant genomic instability. In conclusion, type II GGH harboring HBV pre-S2 mutant oncoprotein represents a high-risk marker for the loss of genome integrity in chronic HBV carriers and explains the complex chromosome changes in HCCs. Non-tumorous liver sections from four each the HBx and pre-S2 mutant LHBS transgenic mice and 3 double transgenic mice between 9 and 22 months old were examined for gene gain and loss.
Project description:Transcription profiling by array of human hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) induced hepatocellular (HCC) carcinoma and surrounding noncancerous liver tissue.
Project description:Background and Aims: Whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) could play a direct role in hepatocarcinogenesis remains uncertain. The 3' end nonsense mutations of HBV PreS/S gene have been found to encode transcriptional transactivation activity, suggesting these mutations may contribute to HBV-associated oncogenesis. Recently, we have identified a potent oncogenic HBV surface (S) gene nonsense mutant sW182*. Results: Gene expression microarray study revealed that sW182* mutant was significantly enriched by gene sets associated with cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, or genome instability. The transforming growth factor-induced (TGFBI) gene was downregulated in the sW182* mutant clones, and irresponsive to TGF- treatment. The level of Cyclin D1, a negatively regulated TGFBI target, was highly elevated in sW182* mutant cells. Exogenous expression of TGFBI alleviated the oncogenic activity of sW182* in mouse xenograft study. In human HBV-related HCC cancerous tissue, expression of TGFBI was downregulated in 25 of the 55 (45%) patients. Conclusions: Dysregulation of transforming growth factor-induced (TGFBI) gene is involved in the oncogenic activity of the sW182* mutant of hepatitis B virus S gene. This has never been described before.
Project description:Background and Aims: Whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) could play a direct role in hepatocarcinogenesis remains uncertain. The 3' end nonsense mutations of HBV PreS/S gene have been found to encode transcriptional transactivation activity, suggesting these mutations may contribute to HBV-associated oncogenesis. Recently, we have identified a potent oncogenic HBV surface (S) gene nonsense mutant sW182*. Results: Gene expression microarray study revealed that sW182* mutant was significantly enriched by gene sets associated with cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, or genome instability. The transforming growth factor-induced (TGFBI) gene was downregulated in the sW182* mutant clones, and irresponsive to TGF- treatment. The level of Cyclin D1, a negatively regulated TGFBI target, was highly elevated in sW182* mutant cells. Exogenous expression of TGFBI alleviated the oncogenic activity of sW182* in mouse xenograft study. In human HBV-related HCC cancerous tissue, expression of TGFBI was downregulated in 25 of the 55 (45%) patients. Conclusions: Dysregulation of transforming growth factor-induced (TGFBI) gene is involved in the oncogenic activity of the sW182* mutant of hepatitis B virus S gene. This has never been described before. NIH3T3 cells were stably transfected with plasmids encoding the wild type PreS/S gene or the nonsense mutant (sW182*) of HBV PreS/S gene. Totoal RNAs were extracted from those stable clones for gene expression microarray analysis using Illumina MouseRef-8 V2 BeadChip.
Project description:A knockout cell library in Huh7.5.1 cells was generated by introducing a genome-scale CRISPR library (GeCKOv2, Addgene #1000000049) and subjected to hepatitis A virus infection (HM175/18f) to isolate virus-resistant mutant cells. Genomic DNA was isolated from the original and virus-selected mutant cell populations and abundance of guideRNA encoding sequences were measured by sequencing on an Illumina NextSeq (High Output).
Project description:We found that BAP1 (BRCA1 Associated Protein-1) shows loss of heterozygosity in over 25% of pancreatic cancer patients and functions as tumor suppressor. Conditional deletion of Bap1 in murine pancreas led to genomic instability, accumulation of DNA damage, and an inflammatory response that evolved to pancreatitis with full penetrance. Concomitant expression of oncogenic KrasG12D led to malignant transformation and development of invasive and metastatic pancreatic cancer. At the molecular level, BAP1 maintains the integrity of the exocrine pancreas by regulating genomic stability and its loss confers sensitivity to radio- and platinum-based therapies.
Project description:Mechanisms of poor responses to vaccines remain unknown. Hepatitis B virus-naïve elderly subjects received three vaccines, including a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV). Transcriptomic profilling of blood collected pre-vaccination and post-vaccination was performed in order to identify candidate biomarkers of antibody response to the different vaccines.