Wen Zhang, Jieliang Chen, Min Wu, Xiaonan Zhang, Min Zhang, Lei Yue, Yaming Li, Jiangxia Liu, Baocun Li, Fang Shen, Yang Wang, Lu Bai, Ulrike Protzer, Massimo Levrero, Zhenghong Yuan
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major health problem worldwide. The covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) minichromosome, which serves as the template for the transcription of viral RNAs, plays a key role in viral persistence. While accumulating evidence suggests that cccDNA transcription is regulated by epigenetic machinery, particularly the acetylation of cccDNA-bound histone 3 (H3) and H4, the potential contributions of histone methylation and related host factors remain obscure. Here, by screening a series of methyltransferases and demethylases, we identified protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) as an effective restrictor of HBV transcription and replication...
August 2017: Hepatology: Official Journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases