title: Hepatitis B virus, HBx mutants and their role in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of death induced by cancer in the modern world and majority of the cases are related to chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. HBV-encoded X protein (HBx) is known to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of viral induced HCC. HBx is a multifunctional protein of 17 kDa which modulates several cellular processes by direct or indirect interaction with a repertoire of host factors resulting in HCC. HBX might interfere with several cellular processes such as oxidative stress, DNA repair, signal transduction, transcription, protein degradation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis. A number of reports have indicated that HBx is one of the most common viral ORFs that is often integrated into the host genome and its sequence variants play a crucial role in HCC. By mutational or deletion analysis it was shown that carboxy terminal of HBx has a likely role in protein-protein interactions, transcriptional transactivation, DNA repair, cell, signaling and pathogenesis of HCC. The accumulated evidence thus far suggests that it is difficult to understand the mechanistic nature of HBx associated HCC, and HBx mediated transcriptional transactivation and signaling pathways may be a major determinant. This article addresses the role of HBx in the development of HCC with particular emphasis on HBx mutants and their putative targets.
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hany
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abdel-Hafiz
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohd
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suhail
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Amany
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Mars
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad Khalid
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Zakaria
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Kaneez
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sultan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Esam
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Adeel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Ashraf Ali, Mohd Suhail, Amany Al-Mars, Sultan Ahmad, Adeel Chaudhary, Ishtiaq Qadri, Department of Medical Biotechnology, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ishtiaq
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Qadri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein
keywords: Activating protein; Apoptosis; Epigenetics; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Mitogen activated protein kinase; Mutants; Transcription factors; Transforming growth factor; Tumor necrosis factor