B cell activation gene signature in blood and liver of HBeAg+ immune active chronic hepatitis B patients
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ABSTRACT: In this study, we performed an unbiased characterization of total CD19+ B cells purified from peripheral blood of immune active chronic HBV patients and showed that HBV induced a B cell activation gene signature in blood but did not significantly induce interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs).
Project description:Immune-mediated liver damage is the driver of disease progression in patients with chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Liver damage is an antigen-independent process caused by bystander activation of CD8 T cells and NK cells. How bystander lymphocyte activation is initiated in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients remains unclear. Periods of liver damage, called hepatic flares, occur unpredictably, making early events difficult to capture. To address this obstacle, we longitudinally sampled the liver of CHB patients stopping antiviral therapy and analyzed immune composition and activation using flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). At 4 weeks after stopping therapy, HBV replication rebounded but no liver damage was detectable. There were no changes in cell frequencies at viral rebound. ScRNA-seq revealed upregulation of IFN stimulated genes (ISGs) and pro-inflammatory cytokine MIF at viral rebound in patients that go on to develop hepatic flares 6 – 18 w after stopping therapy. The type I IFN signature was only detectable within the liver and neither IFN-α/β or ISG induction could be detected in the peripheral blood. In vitro experiments confirmed the type I IFN-dependent ISG profile whereas MIF was induced primarily by IL-12. MIF exposure further amplified inflammatory cytokine production by myeloid cells. Our data show that innate immune activation is detectable in the liver before clinically significant liver damage is evident. The combination of type I IFN and enhanced cytokine production upon MIF exposure represent the earliest immunological triggers of lymphocyte bystander activation observed in hepatic flares associated with chronic HBV infection.
Project description:Background aimsThe clinical relevance of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the IL28B gene is controversial in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This study aimed to investigate the role of viral and host factors, including IL28B genotypes, in the natural course of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).MethodsThe study enrolled consecutive 115 treatment-naive CHB patients. HBV viral loads, genotypes, precore and basal core promotor mutations, serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and interferon-gamma inducible protein 10 (IP-10) levels as well as four SNPs of IL28B were determined. Serial alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in the previous one year before enrollment at an interval of three months were recorded. Factors associated with active hepatitis, defined as persistent ALT >2× upper limit of normal (ULN) or a peak ALT level >5× ULN, were evaluated.ResultsThe prevalence of rs8105790 TT, rs12979860 CC, rs8099917 TT, and rs10853728 CC genotypes were 88.3%, 87.4%, 88.4% and 70.9%, respectively. In HBeAg-positive patients (n?=?48), HBV viral load correlated with active hepatitis, while in HBeAg-negative patients (n?=?67), rs10853728 CC genotype (p?=?0.032) and a trend of higher IP-10 levels (p?=?0.092) were associated with active hepatitis. In multivariate analysis, high viral load (HBV DNA >10(8) IU/mL, p?=?0.042, odds ratio?=?3.946) was significantly associated with HBeAg-positive hepatitis, whereas rs10853728 CC genotype (p?=?0.019, odds ratio?=?3.927) was the only independent factor associated with active hepatitis in HBeAg-negative population.ConclusionsHBV viral load and IL28B rs10853728 CC genotype correlated with hepatitis activity in HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB, respectively. Both viral and host factors play roles in disease activity during different phases of CHB.
Project description:Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated acute on chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF), characterized by an acute deterioration of liver function in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), is lack of predicting biomarkers for prognosis. To explore potential biomarkers of HBV-ACLF for clinical applications, immuno-depletion of high-abundance plasma proteins followed by iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic approach was employed to analyze plasma samples from 20 healthy control people, 20 CHB patients and 20 HBV-ACLF patients, respectively. As a result, a total of 427 proteins were identified and quantified from these samples, and 42 proteins were differentially expressed in HBV-ACLF patients as compared to both CHB patients and healthy controls. According to bioinformatics analysis results, 6 proteins related to immune response (MMR), inflammatory response (OPN, HPX), blood coagulation (ATIII) and lipid metabolism (APO-CII, GP73) were selected as biomarker candidates. Further ELISA analysis confirmed the significant up-regulation of GP73, MMR, OPN and down-regulation of ATIII, HPX, APO-CII in HBV-ACLF plasma samples (p<0.01). Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed high diagnostic value of these candidates in assessing HBV-ACLF. In conclusion, present quantitative proteomic study identified 6 novel HBV-ACLF biomarker candidates and might provide fundamental information for development of HBV-ACLF biomarker.
Project description:Phosphorylation is a major post-translation modification (PTM) of proteins, and small molecules, which is finely tuned by the activity of several hundred kinases and phosphatases. It controls most if not all cellular pathways including anti-viral responses. Accordingly, viruses often induce important changes in the phosphorylation of host factors that can either help or counteract viral replication. Surprisingly, among more than 500 kinases constituting the human kinome only few have been described as important for the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infectious cycle, and most of them intervene during early or late infectious steps by phosphorylating the viral Core protein (HBc) protein. In addition, scarce information is available on the consequences of HBV infection on the activity of cellular kinases. The objective of this study was to investigate the global impact of HBV infection on the cellular phosphorylation landscape at early after infection. For this, primary human hepatocytes (PHH) were challenged or not with HBV, and a mass spectrometry (MS)-based quantitative phospho-proteomic analysis was conducted two- and seven-days post-infection.
Project description:Hepatitis B virus (HBV) persists by depositing a covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in the nucleus of infected cells that cannot be targeted by available antivirals. Cytokine treatments can diminish HBV cccDNA via APOBEC3-mediated deamination. Here we show that overexpression of APOBEC3A alone, however, was not sufficient to reduce cccDNA in HBV-infected cells. This required addition of interferon indicating that cccDNA degradation requires an additional, interferon-stimulated gene (ISG). Transcriptome analyses identified ISG20 as the only type I and II interferon-induced, nucleus-resident protein with annotated nuclease activity. ISG20 expression was detected in human livers in acute, self-limiting but not in chronic hepatitis B. ISG20 depletion abolished the interferon-induced loss of cccDNA, and co-expression of ISG20 and APOBEC3A was sufficient to diminish cccDNA. In conclusion, non-cytolytic HBV cccDNA decline requires induction of a deaminase and nuclease. Our findings highlight that ISGs cooperate for their antiviral function and this cooperativity may be explored for therapeutic targeting.
Project description:Chronic HBV is clinically categorized into 4 phases by a combination of serum HBV DNA levels, HBeAg status and alanine aminotransferase (ALT): immunotolerant (IT), immune-active (IA), inactive carrier (IC) and HBeAg-negative hepatitis (ENEG). Immune and virological measurements in the blood have proven useful but are insufficient to explain the interrelation between the immune system and the virus since immune dynamics differ in the blood and liver. Furthermore, the inflammatory response in the liver and parenchymal cells cannot be fully captured in blood.
Project description:The co-infection of hepatitis B (HBV) patients with the hepatitis D virus (HDV) causes the most severe form of viral hepatitis and thus drastically worsens the course of the disease. Therapy options for HBV/HDV patients are still limited. Here, we investigated the potential of natural killer (NK) cells that are crucial drivers of the innate immune response against viruses to target HDV-infected hepatocytes. We established in vitro co-culture models using HDV-infected hepatoma cell lines and human peripheral blood NK cells. We determined NK cell activation by flow cytometry, transcriptome analysis, bead-based cytokine immunoassays, and NK cell-mediated effects on T cells by flow cytometry. We validated the mechanisms using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene deletions. Moreover, we assessed the frequencies and phenotype of NK cells in peripheral blood of HBV and HDV superinfected patients. Upon co-culture with HDV-infected hepatic cell lines, NK cells upregulated activation markers, interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) including the death receptor ligand tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), produced interferon (IFN)-gamma and eliminated HDV-infected cells via the TRAIL-TRAIL-R2 axis. We identified IFN-beta released by HDV-infected cells as an important enhancer of NK cell activity. In line with our in vitro data, we observed activation of peripheral blood NK cells from HBV/HDV co-infected, but not HBV mono-infected patients. Our data demonstrate NK cell activation in HDV infection and their potential to eliminate HDV-infected hepatoma cells via the TRAIL/TRAIL-R2 axis which implies a high relevance of NK cells for the design of novel anti-viral therapies.
Project description:BACKGROUND: Serum quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels may be an important predictor of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (SC) in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients during antiviral treatment. The pattern of HBsAg variation in CHB patients either with or without SC following tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) treatment is not clearly understood. METHODS: Twenty patients with full experimental data were enrolled, and liver biochemistry, serum HBV DNA, and circulating CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell (Treg) levels were determined at baseline and every 12 weeks after the initiation of TDF treatment (for a total of 96 weeks). In addition, the relationship between HBsAg or HBeAg and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), HBV DNA and Treg levels in SC and non-SC patients was analyzed. RESULTS: In all, 9 patients had undergone HBeAg seroconversion by week 72 of TDF treatment, and biochemical and virological indexes and Treg percentages declined to normal levels. Furthermore, the positive correlation between HBsAg and ALT, HBV DNA and Treg levels was significant for SC patients, but not for non-SC patients. However, for HBeAg, significant positive correlations were or not observed for both SC and non-SC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The quantitation of HBsAg is a more useful indicator than HBeAg for distinguishing SC and non-SC patients during TDF treatment. Moreover, HBsAg may be related to immune regulatory property of CHB patients during antiviral treatment.
Project description:Background and aimChildren chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) are at high risk of progressive liver disease. However, no treatment is available that is consistently effective in curing chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in children. Improved understanding of the natural course of disease is warranted. Identification of specific microRNA (miRNA) profiles in children chronically infected with HBV may provide insight into the pathogenesis of CHB and lead to advances in the management of children with CHB.Patients and methodsMiRNA PCR panels were employed to screen plasma levels of 739 miRNAs in pooled samples from HBeAg positive, HBeAg negative, and healthy children. The three groups' plasma miRNA profiles were compared, and aberrantly expressed miRNAs were identified. The identified miRNAs were then validated. Individual RT-qPCRs were performed on plasma from 34 HBeAg positive, 26 HBeAg negative, and 60 healthy children.ResultsA panel of 16 plasma miRNAs were identified as aberrantly expressed in HBeAg positive and HBeAg negative children (p<0.001). Levels of all of the miRNAs were upregulated in HBeAg positive children compared with in HBeAg negative children. A positive correlation was furthermore found between plasma levels of the identified miRNAs and HBV DNA (p<0.001).ConclusionWe are the first to investigate the plasma miRNA profile of children chronically infected with HBV. Our data indicates the existence of a relationship between abundance of circulating miRNAs and immunological stages in the natural course of disease. Certain miRNAs may contribute to the establishment and maintenance of CHB in children. Further studies are warranted to advance understanding of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of CHB, hopefully leading to the identification of future therapeutic targets.