Mechanisms of Hepatitis B Virus cccDNA and Minichromosome Formation and HBV Gene Transcription.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the etiologic agent of chronic hepatitis B, which puts at least 300 million patients at risk of developing fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV is a partially double-stranded DNA virus of the Hepadnaviridae family. While HBV was discovered more than 50 years ago, many aspects of its replicative cycle remain incompletely understood. Central to HBV persistence is the formation of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) from the incoming relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) genome. cccDNA persists as a chromatinized minichromosome and is the major template for HBV gene transcription. Here, we review how cccDNA and the viral minichromosome are formed and how viral gene transcription is regulated and highlight open questions in this area of research.

Topoisomerase Inhibitors Increase Episomal DNA Expression by Inducing the Integration of Episomal DNA in Hepatic Cells.

Gene therapy is a promising strategy to treat and cure most inherited metabolic liver disorders. Viral vectors such as those based on adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) and lentiviruses (LVs) are used as vehicles to deliver functional genes to affected hepatocytes. Adverse events associated with the use of high vector doses have motivated the use of small molecules as adjuvants to reduce the dose. In this study, we showed that a one-hour treatment with topoisomerase inhibitors (camptothecin and etoposide) prior to viral transduction is enough to increase AAV and LV reporter expression in non-dividing hepatic cells in culture. Topoisomerase inhibitors increased both integration-competent (ICLV) and integration-deficient (IDLV) LV-derived expression, with a much stronger increase in the IDLV transduction system. In agreement with that, topoisomerase inhibitors increased viral genome integration in both strains, with a greater impact on the IDLV strain, supporting the idea that topoisomerase inhibitors increased episomal DNA integration, especially when viral integrase activity is abolished. These effects correlated with an increase in the DNA damage response produced by the treatments. Our study highlights the need to monitor DNA damage and undesired integration of viral episomal DNAs into the host genome when studying chemical compounds that increase viral transduction.

The Host Factor Erlin-1 is Required for Efficient Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

Development of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection cell culture systems has permitted the identification of cellular factors that regulate the HCV life cycle. Some of these cellular factors affect steps in the viral life cycle that are tightly associated with intracellular membranes derived from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here, we describe the discovery of erlin-1 protein as a cellular factor that regulates HCV infection. Erlin-1 is a cholesterol-binding protein located in detergent-resistant membranes within the ER. It is implicated in cholesterol homeostasis and the ER-associated degradation pathway. Silencing of erlin-1 protein expression by siRNA led to decreased infection efficiency characterized by reduction in intracellular RNA accumulation, HCV protein expression and virus production. Mechanistic studies revealed that erlin-1 protein is required early in the infection, downstream of cell entry and primary translation, specifically to initiate RNA replication, and later in the infection to support infectious virus production. This study identifies erlin-1 protein as an important cellular factor regulating HCV infection.

Hepatitis B Virus and DNA Damage Response: Interactions and Consequences for the Infection.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major etiologic agent of acute and chronic hepatitis, and end-stage liver disease. Establishment of HBV infection, progression to persistency and pathogenesis are determined by viral and cellular factors, some of which remain still undefined. Key steps of HBV life cycle e.g., transformation of genomic viral DNA into transcriptionally active episomal DNA (cccDNA) or transcription of viral mRNAs from cccDNA, take place in the nucleus of infected cells and strongly depend on enzymatic activities provided by cellular proteins. In this regard, DNA damage response (DDR) pathways and some DDR proteins are being recognized as important factors regulating the infection. On one hand, HBV highjacks specific DDR proteins to successfully complete some of the steps of its life cycle. On the other hand, HBV subverts DDR pathways to presumably create a cellular environment that favours its replication. Direct consequences of these interactions are: HBV DNA integration into host chromosomal DNA, and accumulation of mutations in host chromosomal DNA that could eventually trigger carcinogenic processes, which would explain in part the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronically infected patients. Unravelling the interactions that HBV establishes with DDR pathways might help identify new molecular targets for therapeutic intervention.