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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Genetics
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1407434
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring Epigenetic Mechanisms in Cancer View all 3 articles

Hepatitis B Virus X Protein and TGF-β: Partners in the Carcinogenic Journey of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Provisionally accepted
Wei Yan Wei Yan Rao Dean Rao Dean Feimu Fan Feimu Fan Huifang Liang Huifang Liang *Zunyi Zhang Zunyi Zhang *Hanhua Dong Hanhua Dong *
  • Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Hepatitis B infection is substantially associated with the development of liver cancer globally, with the prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases exceeding 50%. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) encodes the Hepatitis B virus X (HBx) protein, a pleiotropic regulatory protein necessary for the transcription of the HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) microchromosome. In previous studies, HBV-associated HCC was revealed to be affected by HBx in multiple signaling pathways, resulting in genetic mutations and epigenetic modifications in proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. In addition, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) has dichotomous potentials at various phases of malignancy as it is a crucial signaling pathway that regulates multiple cellular and physiological processes. In early HCC, TGF-β has a significant antitumor effect, whereas in advanced HCC, it promotes malignant progression. TGF-β interacts with the HBx protein in HCC, regulating the pathogenesis of HCC. This review summarizes the respective and dcombined functions of HBx and TGB-β in HCC occurrence and development.

    Keywords: HBx protein, Hepatitis B virus, TGF-β signaling, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, tumor suppressor, pro-tumorigenic

    Received: 26 Mar 2024; Accepted: 21 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yan, Dean, Fan, Liang, Zhang and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Huifang Liang, Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
    Zunyi Zhang, Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
    Hanhua Dong, Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.