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Journal of Virology, October 2005, p. 13116-13128, Vol. 79, No. 20
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.20.13116-13128.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Hepatocyte-Like Cells Transdifferentiated from a Pancreatic Origin Can Support Replication of Hepatitis B Virus

Robert Yung-Liang Wang,1 Chia-Ning Shen,2,{dagger} Min-Hui Lin,1 David Tosh,2 and Chiaho Shih1*

Department of Pathology and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases and Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0609,1 Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom2

Received 18 April 2005/ Accepted 26 July 2005

Recently, a rat pancreatic cell line (AR42J-B13) was shown to transdifferentiate to hepatocyte-like cells upon induction with dexamethasone (Dex). The aim of this study is to determine whether transdifferentiated hepatocytes can indeed function like bona fide liver cells and support replication of hepatotropic hepatitis B virus (HBV). We stably transfected AR42J-B13 cells with HBV DNA and examined the expression of hepatocyte markers and viral activities in control and transdifferentiated cells. A full spectrum of HBV replicative intermediates, including covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and Dane particles, were detected only after induction with Dex and oncostatin M. Strikingly, the small envelope protein and RNA of HBV were increased by 40- to 100-fold upon induction. When HBV RNAs were examined by primer extension analysis, novel core- and precore-specific transcripts were induced by Dex which initiated at nucleotide (nt) 1820 and nt 1789, respectively. Most surprisingly, another species of core-specific RNA, which initiates at nt 1825, is always present at almost equal intensity before and after Dex treatment, a result consistent with Northern blot analysis. The fact that HBV core protein is dramatically produced only after transdifferentiation suggests the possibility of both transcriptional and translational regulation of HBV core antigen in HBV-transfected AR42J-B13 cells. Upon withdrawal of Dex, HBV replication and gene expression decreased rapidly—less than 50% of the cccDNA remained detectable in 1.5 days. Our studies demonstrate that the transdifferentiated AR42J-B13 cells can function like bona fide hepatocytes. This system offers a new opportunity for basic research of virus-host interactions and pancreatic transdifferentiation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases and Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609. Phone: (409) 772-2563. Fax: (409) 747-2429. E-mail: cshih{at}utmb.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Stem Cell Program, The Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan.

Journal of Virology, October 2005, p. 13116-13128, Vol. 79, No. 20
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.20.13116-13128.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Guo, H., Zhou, T., Jiang, D., Cuconati, A., Xiao, G.-H., Block, T. M., Guo, J.-T. (2007). Regulation of Hepatitis B Virus Replication by the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase-Akt Signal Transduction Pathway. J. Virol. 81: 10072-10080 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Scheving, L. A., Buchanan, R., Krause, M. A., Zhang, X., Stevenson, M. C., Russell, W. E. (2007). Dexamethasone modulates ErbB tyrosine kinase expression and signaling through multiple and redundant mechanisms in cultured rat hepatocytes. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 293: G552-G559 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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