[Hepatitis B virus-mediated effects on host expression of the proprotein convertase Furin].

Objective: To study the effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on the expression of Furin, an important proprotein convertase, in liver cells to provide insights towards its potential as a therapeutic target for improved antiviral efficacy.
Methods: Furin expression was measured in human liver specimens (infected tissues from patients with chronic HBV hepatitis vs. normal tissues from healthy donors) and in hepatoma cell lines (HBV-infected HepG2.2.15 cells vs. uninfected parental cell lines HepG2) using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (for mRNA), western blotting and immunohistochemistry (for protein).
Results: Compared to the uninfected tissues and cells, the HBV-infected tissue and cells showed down-regulated expression of furin at both the mRNA and protein levels. In particular, the HepG2.2.15 cells showed -50% less furin mRNA expression than the HepG2 cells and the difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.05).
Conclusion: HBV may suppress the host cell's expression of furin, possibly to benefit its survival and replication in the host cell.