title: Expression of Interferon Effector Gene SART1 Correlates with Interferon Treatment Response against Hepatitis B Infection.
abstract: Interferon-α(IFN-α) has limited response rate in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The underlying mechanism of differential responsiveness to IFN remains elusive. It has been recently reported that SART1 mediates antiviral effects of IFN-αin the hepatitis C virus (HCV) cell culture model. In this study, we investigated the role of SART1 in antiviral activity of IFN-αagainst hepatitis B virus (HBV) using blood and liver biopsy samples from chronic hepatitis B patients treated with pegylated IFN-αand HepG2 cells transfected with cloned HBV DNA. We observed that the basal SART1 expression in liver and PBMCs before IFN treatment was significantly higher in responders than in nonresponders. Furthermore, baseline SART1 expression level positively correlated with the degree of HBV DNA and HBeAg decline after IFN treatment. Mechanistically, silencing SART1 abrogated the antiviral activity of IFN-α, reduced the expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) Mx, OAS, and PKR, and attenuated JAK-STAT signaling in HepG2 cells, suggesting that SART1 regulates IFN-mediated antiviral activity through JAK-STAT signaling and ISG expression. Our study elucidates the important role of SART1 in IFN-mediated anti-HBV response and provides new insights into understanding variation of IFN treatment response in CHB patients.
authors.affiliation: Department and Institute of Internal Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Chuanlong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Center for Biomedical Research Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Faxi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Tiantian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1961-7188
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Biosciences Division, SRI International, Harrisonburg, VA 22802, USA.
authors.forename: Shufeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7353-2700
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; C431323:SART1 protein, human