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Updated: May 17, 2026

Development of a Hepatitis B Virus Reporter System to Monitor the Early Stages of the Replication Cycle
Published on: February 1, 2017
Independent activation of hepatitis B virus biosynthesis by retinoids, peroxisome proliferators, and bile acids
Vanessa C Reese1, Claudia E Oropeza, Alan McLachlan
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Abstract:
In the human hepatoma cell line HepG2, retinoic acid, clofibric acid, and bile acid treatment can only modestly increase hepatitis B virus (HBV) biosynthesis. Utilizing the human embryonic kidney cell line 293T, it was possible to demonstrate that the retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) plus its ligand can support viral biosynthesis independently of additional nuclear receptors. In addition, RXRα/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and RXRα/farnesoid X receptor α (FXRα) heterodimeric nuclear receptors can also mediate ligand-dependent HBV transcription and replication when activated by clofibric acid and bile acid, respectively, independently of a requirement for the ligand-dependent activation of RXRα. These observations indicate that there are at least three possible modes of ligand-mediated activation of HBV transcription and replication existing within hepatocytes, suggesting that multiple independent mechanisms control viral production in the livers of infected individuals.
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