Madden C R, Slagle B L
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Dis Markers. 2001;17(3):153-7. doi: 10.1155/2001/571254.
Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a known risk factor in the development of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The HBV-encoded X protein, HBx, has been investigated for properties that may explain its cancer cofactor role in transgenic mouse lines. We discuss here recent data showing that HBx is able to induce hepatocellular proliferation in vitro and in vivo. This property of HBx is predicted to sensitize hepatocytes to other HCC cofactors, including exposure to carcinogens and to other hepatitis viruses. Cellular proliferation is intimately linked to the mechanism(s) by which most tumor-associated viruses transform virus-infected cells. The HBx alteration of the cell cycle provides an additional mechanism by which chronic HBV infection may contribute to HCC.
慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染是人类肝细胞癌（HCC）发生发展的已知危险因素。人们对HBV编码的X蛋白HBx进行了研究，以探寻其在转基因小鼠模型中可能作为癌症辅助因子的特性。在此，我们讨论近期数据，这些数据表明HBx能够在体内外诱导肝细胞增殖。预计HBx的这一特性会使肝细胞对其他HCC辅助因子更加敏感，包括接触致癌物和其他肝炎病毒。细胞增殖与大多数肿瘤相关病毒转化病毒感染细胞的机制密切相关。HBx对细胞周期的改变为慢性HBV感染可能导致HCC提供了另一种机制。
