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IFN-? inhibits HBV transcription and replication in cell culture and in humanized mice by targeting the epigenetic regulation of the nuclear cccDNA minichromosome.

ABSTRACT: HBV infection remains a leading cause of death worldwide. IFN-? inhibits viral replication in vitro and in vivo, and pegylated IFN-? is a commonly administered treatment for individuals infected with HBV. The HBV genome contains a typical IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE), but the molecular mechanisms by which IFN-? suppresses HBV replication have not been established in relevant experimental systems. Here, we show that IFN-? inhibits HBV replication by decreasing the transcription of pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) and subgenomic RNA from the HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) minichromosome, both in cultured cells in which HBV is replicating and in mice whose livers have been repopulated with human hepatocytes and infected with HBV. Administration of IFN-? resulted in cccDNA-bound histone hypoacetylation as well as active recruitment to the cccDNA of transcriptional corepressors. IFN-? treatment also reduced binding of the STAT1 and STAT2 transcription factors to active cccDNA. The inhibitory activity of IFN-? was linked to the IRSE, as IRSE-mutant HBV transcribed less pgRNA and could not be repressed by IFN-? treatment. Our results identify a molecular mechanism whereby IFN-? mediates epigenetic repression of HBV cccDNA transcriptional activity, which may assist in the development of novel effective therapeutics.

SUBMITTER: Belloni L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3266786 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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IFN-α inhibits HBV transcription and replication in cell culture and in humanized mice by targeting the epigenetic regulation of the nuclear cccDNA minichromosome.

Belloni Laura L Allweiss Lena L Guerrieri Francesca F Pediconi Natalia N Volz Tassilo T Pollicino Teresa T Petersen Joerg J Raimondo Giovanni G Dandri Maura M Levrero Massimo M

The Journal of clinical investigation 20120117 2

HBV infection remains a leading cause of death worldwide. IFN-α inhibits viral replication in vitro and in vivo, and pegylated IFN-α is a commonly administered treatment for individuals infected with HBV. The HBV genome contains a typical IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE), but the molecular mechanisms by which IFN-α suppresses HBV replication have not been established in relevant experimental systems. Here, we show that IFN-α inhibits HBV replication by decreasing the transcription of prege ...[more]

PMID: 22251702

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Project description:BackgroundHepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA (HBV cccDNA) is assembled by histones and non-histones into a chromatin-like cccDNA minichromosome in the nucleus. The cellular histone acetyltransferase GCN5, displaying succinyltransferase activity, is recruited onto cccDNA to modulate HBV transcription in cells. Clinically, IFN-α is able to repress cccDNA. However, the underlying mechanism of IFN-α in the depression of cccDNA mediated by GCN5 is poorly understood. Here, we explored the effect of IFN-α on GCN5-mediated succinylation in the epigenetic regulation of HBV cccDNA minichromosome.ResultsSuccinylation modification of the cccDNA minichromosome has been observed in HBV-infected human liver-chimeric mice and HBV-expressing cell lines. Moreover, histone H3K79 succinylation by GCN5 was identified in the system. Interestingly, the mutant of histone H3K79 efficiently blocked the replication of HBV, and interference with GCN5 resulted in decreased levels of HBV DNA, HBsAg, and HBeAg in the supernatant from de novo HBV-infected HepaRG cells. Consistently, the levels of histone H3K79 succinylation were significantly elevated in the livers of HBV-infected human liver-chimeric mice. The knockdown or overexpression of GCN5 or the mutant of GCN5 could affect the binding of GCN5 to cccDNA or H3K79 succinylation, leading to a change in cccDNA transcription activity. In addition, Southern blot analysis validated that siGCN5 decreased the levels of cccDNA in the cells, suggesting that GCN5-mediated succinylation of histone H3K79 contributes to the epigenetic regulation of cccDNA minichromosome. Strikingly, IFN-α effectively depressed histone H3K79 succinylation in HBV cccDNA minichromosome in de novo HepG2-NTCP and HBV-infected HepaRG cells.ConclusionsIFN-α epigenetically regulates the HBV cccDNA minichromosome by modulating GCN5-mediated succinylation of histone H3K79 to clear HBV cccDNA. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanism by which IFN-α modulate the epigenetic regulation of HBV cccDNA minichromosome.

Dataset Information

IFN-? inhibits HBV transcription and replication in cell culture and in humanized mice by targeting the epigenetic regulation of the nuclear cccDNA minichromosome.

Publications

IFN-α inhibits HBV transcription and replication in cell culture and in humanized mice by targeting the epigenetic regulation of the nuclear cccDNA minichromosome.

Similar Datasets

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