[Mutations and their significance in the corepromoter region of hepatitis B virus].
OBJECTIVE
To study the mutations in the core promoter (CP) region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Chinese viral hepatits B patients.


METHODS
CP regions of 48 HBV strains were analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) direct sequencing approach.


RESULTS
67% of the samples were detected to have point mutations in the CP region. The hot spots located in nt 1754-1766 and nt 1801-1811 while nucleotides in nt 1777-1800 and nt 1812-1836 were highly conserved. nt. 1764 mutation was present in HBeAg negative patients. There were 16 point mutations in region overlapping X gene, 9 of which lead to amino acid change.


CONCLUSIONS
Though mutations in CP region of HBV appear frequently, the sequences associated with viral transcription are rarely changed. Point mutation at nt 1764 is related to HBeAg negative phenotype, but it is not the specific mutation of fulminant hepatitis. The importance of mutations in the X gene overlapping region needs to be further investigated.
Department of Molecular Virology, Shanghai Medical University.
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Tu
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Wen
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Xiong
D014644:Genetic Variation; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000821:virology*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins
D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein