Hepatitis B virus X protein promotes the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by modulation of the Notch signaling pathway

Wang,Fan; Zhou,Haiyan; Yang,Yuzhen; Xia,Xiumei; Sun,Qian; Luo,Jin; Cheng,Bin

doi:10.3892/or.2012.1620

Hepatitis B virus X protein promotes the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by modulation of the Notch signaling pathway

Authors:
- Fan Wang
- Haiyan Zhou
- Yuzhen Yang
- Xiumei Xia
- Qian Sun
- Jin Luo
- Bin Cheng
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Affiliations: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, P.R. China, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Street, Wuhan 430030, P.R. China
Published online on: January 3, 2012 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2012.1620
Pages: 1170-1176

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Abstract

Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays a crucial role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, little is known about the mechanism. Here, we investigated the relationship between HBx and Notch signaling in HepG2 cells after they were transfected with the HBx gene. It was found that HBx upregulated the expression of Notch-1, Jagged-1 and Hes-1 at the transcriptional level by binding to the Notch-1 intracellular domain, which is congruent with the observations of enhanced malignant biological activities of HBx-transfected HepG2 cells compared with normal HepG2 cells. However, while Notch signaling was blocked, the HBx-induced abnormalities were partially reversed. These findings suggest that HBx may promote the progression of HCC via the activated Notch pathway.

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