An intracellular antibody can suppress tumorigenicity in hepatitis B virus X-expressing cells

Although the hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) is thought to play a causative role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, it is not yet known whether interfering with HBx function may affect the cellular transformation of HBx-expressing tumor cells. To address this question, we adopted an intracellular antibody fragment expression approach to block the function of HBx. Expression of a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) specific to HBx (designated as H7scFv) inhibited HBx-dependent cellular transactivation. Furthermore, H7scFv suppressed the growth of HBx-expressing tumor cells in both soft agar and nude mice. The suppressive effect of H7scFv on tumorigenicity appeared not to be mediated by inhibition of HBx-induced growth stimulation since the growth rate of these cells was not affected significantly by H7scFv expression. In conclusion, these data suggest that the HBx-dependent transformed phenotype is reversible and that HBx may be a good molecular target for the treatment of HBV-related tumors.