title: Dissecting the pleiotropic actions of HBx mutants against hypoxia in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Error-prone integration of the hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) into the hepatocellular genome generates a multitude of mutants exerting diverse effects on the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A recent study by Lai and colleagues revealed the disparate regulatory activity of clinically-predominant HBx mutants towards hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), a central regulator of tumor angiogenesis, proliferation, metastasis and differentiation. These findings have shed insight into specific viral contribution of hypoxic response during hepatocarcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Digestive Disease and Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, 2 State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, 3 School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ; 4 Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518052, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Digestive Disease and Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, 2 State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, 3 School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ; 4 Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518052, China.
authors.forename: Myth T S
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mok
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Digestive Disease and Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, 2 State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, 3 School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China ; 4 Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518052, China.
authors.forename: Alfred Sze-Lok
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Cheng
keywords: Hepatitis B virus X protein mutant (HBx mutant); hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)