Hepatocytes proteomic alteration and seroproteome analysis of HBV-transgenic mice

Hepatitis B is the most common and serious liver disease, especially in developing countries. Although HBV pathogenesis has been extensively investigated, the proteomic alteration of hepatocytes during HBV chronic infection is still unclear. Using the purified hepatocytes, we compared the protein profiles by 2-DE and LC-MS between HBV-transgenic (Tg) and corresponding background mice. Twenty-seven altered proteins were identified in hepatocytes from HBV-Tg mice, among which 13 proteins were involved in mitochondrion metabolism pathway including tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and oxidative response; four proteins (SELENBP, SCP2, RGN and PRDX1) were also dramatically changed in liver samples from HBV-infected patients. Important genes (gpx, sod, ogg et al.) correlated to oxidative damage were up-regulated in the liver of HBV-Tg mice. Reactive oxygen species production was significantly increased while ATP production was decreased in liver mitochondria from HBV-Tg mice. Moreover, hepatocytes of HBV-Tg mice were more sensitive to hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death than that of wild-type control. Using 2-D Western blotting analysis, eight hepatocyte proteins were found to react with sera of HBV-Tg mice but not with that of background mice. Interestingly, two (Etfa and Dmgdh) of the eight reactive proteins were overexpressed in HBV-Tg mice. We believe this study is the first proteomic and seroproteome analysis of HBV-infected mammalian hepatocyte and provides insightful links between HBV infection and HBV-induced liver diseases.