The role of hepatitis B virus x gene in development of primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers occurring in human, and there is strong epidemiological evidence suggesting that persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most important risk factor for its development. HBx gene was found to be a transactivator recently. Its continuous expression in hepatocytes may transactivate cellular genes which can play a certain role in development of HCC. The HBx gene fragment was used to construct a recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pCEP4 and introduced into HepG2 cells. The effect of HBx gene on HCC cells growth and its molecular mechanism in HCC cells regulation were investigated.     

乙肝病毒x基因致肝细胞癌机理探讨

构建HBx基因真核表达载体, 导入HepG2细胞中, 无血清培养同步化后, Western 杂交检测HepG2-X细胞IGF-ⅠR, PCNA和VEGF表达增强, 但无p21CIP1/WAF1表达. 流式细胞检测细胞周期, HepG-X0细胞70%进入G0～G1期, 而HepG2-X细胞仅56%进入G0～G1期, 与血清培养亲本HepG2细胞几乎相同. HBx基因增强IGF-ⅠR表达, 通过信号通路到细胞核, 同时使PCNA表达增强, p21CIP1/WAF1表达抑制, 推进细胞周期, 使G0～G1细胞明显减少. HBx基因增强VEGF表达, 通过旁分泌作用使血管内皮增生; 以上可能是HBx蛋白致HCC 的机理之一.