title: Hepatitis B Virus X and Regulation of Viral Gene Expression.
abstract: The efficient replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) requires the HBV regulatory hepatitis B virus X (HBx) protein. The exact contributions of HBx are not fully understood, in part because of the limitations of the assays used for its study. When HBV replication is driven from a plasmid DNA, the contribution of HBx is modest. However, there is an absolute requirement for HBx in assays that recapitulate the infectious virus life cycle. There is much evidence that HBx can contribute directly to HBV replication by acting on viral promoters embedded within protein coding sequences. In addition, HBx may also contribute indirectly by modulating cellular pathways to benefit virus replication. Understanding the mechanism(s) of HBx action during virus replication may provide insight into novel ways to disrupt chronic HBV replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
authors.forename: Betty L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Slagle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bouchard
mesh_terms: D004261:DNA Replication; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein