Zhongliang Shen, Shenyan Zhang, Zixiang Gao, Xueping Yu, Jinyu Wang, Shaokun Pan, Ning Kang, Nannan Liu, Huijun Xu, Mu Liu, Yang Yang, Qiang Deng, Jing Liu, Youhua Xie, Jiming Zhang
Covalently closed circular DNA plays a key role for the persistence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) since it serves as the template for viral transcription. Identification of transcription factors that regulate HBV transcription not only provides insights into molecular mechanisms of viral life cycle regulation but may also provide potential antiviral targets. In this work, we identified host MSX1 as a novel restriction factor of HBV transcription. Meanwhile, we observed higher intrahepatic MSX1 expression in chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) patients in immune active phase compared to those in immune tolerant phase, suggesting possible involvement of MSX1 in the regulation of HBV activity by the host...
January 16, 2024: Journal of Virology