Effect of hepatitis B virus X protein mediated by adenovirus on the differentiation of hepatic progenitor cells

Abstract:

Objective：To detect the effect of hepatitis B virus X（HBx） protein on the differentiation of hepatic progenitor cell and to explore whether HBx protein can promote the malignant transformation of hepatic stem cell. Methods：The hepatic progenitor cell Hp14-19 was infected with adenovirus Ad-HBx and Ad-GFP. The expressions of HBx protein in hepatic progenitor cell were con－firmed by RT-PCR and Western blot. The changes of differentiation marker alpha fetal protein（AFP），delta like homolog（DLK），creatine kinase19（CK19），CK18 and albumin（ALB） in the hepatic progenitor cell treated with HBx were evaluated by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence. The morphological change was observed by PAS staining at 11 d after the inducement. Results：HBx was ex－pressed in the hepatic progenitor cell Hp14-19 infected with Ad-HBx. Compared with those in control group（infected with Ad-GFP），the expressions of early marker DLK，CK19 and AFP were decreased slowly while later marker CK18，ALB were increased slowly in experiment group（infected with Ad-HBx）. PAS staining results showed that HBx inhibited glycogen synthesis in HP14.5 cells. Con－clusions：HBx can inhibit the differentiation of hepatic progenitor cell，which maybe involved in the tumorigenesis of HBx-mediated liver cancer.