Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Identifying Inhibitors of the HBx-DDB1 Interaction Using a Split Luciferase Assay System
Published on: December 21, 2019
Differential inhibition of nuclear hormone receptor-dependent hepatitis B virus replication by the small heterodimer
Claudia E Oropeza1, Lie Li, Alan McLachlan
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 909 South Wolcott Avenue, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Abstract:
The nuclear hormone receptors hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4) and retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRalpha) plus peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) heterodimer support hepatitis B virus (HBV) pregenomic RNA synthesis and viral replication in nonhepatoma cells. Small heterodimer partner (SHP), an orphan nuclear hormone receptor lacking a DNA binding domain, inhibits nuclear hormone receptor-mediated viral transcription and replication. The inhibition of HBV replication by SHP is dependent on the presence of nuclear hormone receptors. HBV replication that is dependent on HNF4 is considerably more sensitive to SHP-mediated inhibition than RXRalpha/PPARalpha-directed viral biosynthesis. SHP inhibition of HBV biosynthesis in HepG2 cells suggests that multiple nuclear hormone receptors mediate viral replication in this human hepatoma cell line. These observations suggest that the physiological regulation of HBV biosynthesis by SHP in the liver will depend on both the level of SHP expression and the relative contribution of HNF4 and RXRalpha/PPARalpha, plus potentially additional nuclear hormone receptors, to HBV RNA synthesis and replication.
Related Concept Videos
Hepatitis
Inhibitors Of Virion Release
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly
Viruses with RNA Genomes
Transducer Mechanism: Nuclear Receptors
About 48 different soluble family members of nuclear receptors are identified that can be divided into two main classes:

