Chronic hepatitis B infection is caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV) and a total cure is yet to be achieved. The viral covalently closed circular DNA(ccc DNA) is the key to establish a persistent infection within hepatoc...Chronic hepatitis B infection is caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV) and a total cure is yet to be achieved. The viral covalently closed circular DNA(ccc DNA) is the key to establish a persistent infection within hepatocytes. Current antiviral strategies have no effect on the pre-existing ccc DNA reservoir. Therefore, the study of the molecular mechanism of ccc DNA formation is becoming a major focus of HBV research. This review summarizes the current advances in ccc DNA molecular biology and the latest studies on the elimination or inactivation of ccc DNA, including three major areas:(1) epigenetic regulation of ccc DNA by HBV X protein,(2) immune-mediated degradation,and(3) genome-editing nucleases. All these aspects provide clues on how to finally attain a cure for chronic hepatitis B infection.展开更多
基金supported by the Key Project of Hubei Province Natural Science Foundation(2014CFA075)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31400153)the Applied Basic Research Program(2015060101010033),Wuhan,China
文摘Chronic hepatitis B infection is caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV) and a total cure is yet to be achieved. The viral covalently closed circular DNA(ccc DNA) is the key to establish a persistent infection within hepatocytes. Current antiviral strategies have no effect on the pre-existing ccc DNA reservoir. Therefore, the study of the molecular mechanism of ccc DNA formation is becoming a major focus of HBV research. This review summarizes the current advances in ccc DNA molecular biology and the latest studies on the elimination or inactivation of ccc DNA, including three major areas:(1) epigenetic regulation of ccc DNA by HBV X protein,(2) immune-mediated degradation,and(3) genome-editing nucleases. All these aspects provide clues on how to finally attain a cure for chronic hepatitis B infection.
