title: Virology. The X files--one step closer to closure.
abstract: There may be drugs and a useful vaccine available to combat the hepatitis B virus, but one aspect of this pathogen remains a puzzle: the function of its HBx protein. As Ganem reveals in his Perspective, new findings (Bouchard et al.) show that this versatile viral protein is an activator of calcium-dependent Ras signaling, an observation that may explain many of its biological effects.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. ganem@cgl.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ganem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology; D009154:Mutation; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; D014779:Virus Replication; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019061:src-Family Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015534:Trans-Activators; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1; D014157:Transcription Factors; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2; D019061:src-Family Kinases; D018631:ras Proteins; D002118:Calcium