Naturally occurred precore(PC,G1896A)and/or basal core promoter(BCP,A1762T/G1764A)mutations are prevalent in chronic HBV-infected patients,especially those under HBeAg-negative status.However,the replicative capacity ...Naturally occurred precore(PC,G1896A)and/or basal core promoter(BCP,A1762T/G1764A)mutations are prevalent in chronic HBV-infected patients,especially those under HBeAg-negative status.However,the replicative capacity of HBV with PC/BCP mutations remains ambiguous.Herein,meta-analysis showed that,only under HBeAg-negative status,the serum HBV DNA load in patients with PC mutation was 7.41-fold higher than those without the mutation.Both PC mutation alone and BCPþPC mutations promoted HBV replication in cell and hydrodynamic injection mouse models.In human hepatocyte chimeric mouse model,BCPþPC mutations led to elevated replicative capacity and intrahepatic core protein accumulation.Mechanistically,preC RNA harboring PC mutation could serve as mRNA to express core and P proteins,and such pgRNA-like function favored the maintenance of cccDNA pool under HBeAg-negative status.Additionally,BCPþPC mutations induced more extensive and severe human hepatocyte damage as well as activated endoplasmic reticulum stress and TNF signaling pathway in livers of chimeric mice.This study indicates that HBeAg-negative patients should be monitored on HBV mutations regularly and are expected to receive early antiviral treatment to prevent disease progression.展开更多
基金supported by National Key R&D Program of China(2023YFC2306800)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.82072280 and No.82272315)Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation(No.7212063 and No.7222108).
文摘Naturally occurred precore(PC,G1896A)and/or basal core promoter(BCP,A1762T/G1764A)mutations are prevalent in chronic HBV-infected patients,especially those under HBeAg-negative status.However,the replicative capacity of HBV with PC/BCP mutations remains ambiguous.Herein,meta-analysis showed that,only under HBeAg-negative status,the serum HBV DNA load in patients with PC mutation was 7.41-fold higher than those without the mutation.Both PC mutation alone and BCPþPC mutations promoted HBV replication in cell and hydrodynamic injection mouse models.In human hepatocyte chimeric mouse model,BCPþPC mutations led to elevated replicative capacity and intrahepatic core protein accumulation.Mechanistically,preC RNA harboring PC mutation could serve as mRNA to express core and P proteins,and such pgRNA-like function favored the maintenance of cccDNA pool under HBeAg-negative status.Additionally,BCPþPC mutations induced more extensive and severe human hepatocyte damage as well as activated endoplasmic reticulum stress and TNF signaling pathway in livers of chimeric mice.This study indicates that HBeAg-negative patients should be monitored on HBV mutations regularly and are expected to receive early antiviral treatment to prevent disease progression.