X gene/core promoter deletion mutation: A novel mechanism leading to hepatitis B 'e' antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B

作者：Zhou, Fei; Xu, Hongzhi; Chen, Meiya; Xiao, Hongmin; Zhang, Zhiping; Lu, Yapi; Ren, Jianlin; Dong, Jing^*

来源：Molecular Medicine Reports, 2014, 10(2): 799-803.

DOI：10.3892/mmr.2014.2248

• hepatitis B virus
• deletion mutation
• core promoter
• X gene

Mutations in the precore and core promoter regions of hepatitis B 'e' antigen (HBeAg) are implicated in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (CHB). The objective of the current study was to investigate novel mutant patterns that lead to HBeAg-negative CHB. The. PreX-X genomic region from the sera of HBV-infected patients was amplified, and analysis of the sequences displayed a unique deletion region, 234 nucleotides in length, which was observed in 54 clones and named core promoter deletion (CPD). CPD may have an important role in the cause of HBeAg-negative CHB. In addition, a novel deletion mutation in the X gene was observed in patients with CHB. This deletion mutant codes a 76-amino-acid X factor instead of the X protein. In the present study, a new mutation pattern was discovered that may contribute to the cause of HBeAg-negative CHB, and therefore it is worthy of future studies.

• 出版日期2014-8
• 单位福建医科大学; 厦门大学