PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Xiao-Dong Zhang
AU  - Yuan Wang
AU  - Li-Hong Ye
TI  - Hepatitis B virus X protein accelerates the development of hepatoma
AID  - 10.7497/j.issn.2095-3941.2014.03.004
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - Cancer Biology and Medicine
PG  - 182--190
VI  - 11
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/11/3/182.short
4100  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/11/3/182.full
SO  - Cancer Biol Med2014 Sep 01; 11
AB  - The chronic infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is closely related to the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Accumulated evidence has shown that HBV X protein (HBx protein) is a multifunctional regulator with a crucial role in hepatocarcinogenesis. However, information on the mechanism by which HBV induces HCC is lacking. This review focuses on the pathological functions of HBx in HBV-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. As a transactivator, HBx can modulate nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and transcription factor AP-2. Moreover, HBx can affect regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including microRNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), such as miRNA-205 and highly upregulated in liver cancer (HULC), respectively. HBx is also involved in epigenetic modification, including methylation and acetylation. HBx interacts with various signal-transduction pathways, such as protein kinase B/Akt, Wnt/β-catenin, signal transducer and activator of transcription, and NF-κB pathways. Moreover, HBx affects cellular fate by shifting the balance toward cell survival. HBx may lead to the loss of apoptotic functions or directly contributes to oncogenesis by achieving transforming functions, which induce hepatocarcinogenesis. Additionally, HBx can modulate apoptosis and immune response by direct or indirect interaction with host factors. We conclude that HBx hastens the development of hepatoma.