title: HBX-mediated migration of HBV-replicating HepG2 cells: insights on development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatitus B virus (HBV) is a major cause of the development of hepatpcellular carcinoma (HCC). One of the significant characteristics of tumor progression is cell migration which is reflective of cytoskeletal dynamics. The Rho GTPases contribute to a multiple cellular processes, including the cellular cytoskeletal reorganization and motility. It has been found that some Rho GTPases have oncogenic activity and can promote cancer cell invasion. Here we discuss one of the Rho GTPases, Rac1 can be activated by HBV replication and such activation results in the high motility of HBV-replicating cells. The enhanced cell motility can be interestingly alleviated by the mutation at the sites of proline rich domain located in HBX. Our findings may provide new insights on the mechanism of HCC development associated with chronic HBV infection.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 637459 Singapore.
authors.forename: Huixing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei Ning
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C107953:RAC1 protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein