background although certain hbv mutations are known to affect the expression of hepatitis e antigen, their association with hbv viral level or clinical outcomes is less clear. objectives we evaluated associations between different mutations in the basal core promoter (bcp) and pre-core (pc) regions of hbv genome and subsequent changes in hbv viral dna level over seven years in a population of u...

There are two hypotheses explaining a fulminant outcome after hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, both of which may be applicable at the same time: (i) basal core promoter (BCP) mutations increase viral replication, allowing rapid spread of the virus through the liver, and (ii) pre-core (pre-C) mutations abrogating hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) synthesis remove its tolerogenic effect, leading to...

This report describes the full-length sequences of 2 HBV clones from a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patient, one with preC mutation (1896A) and the other without preC mutation. The high level of discrepancy in mutation frequency between these 2 strains was observed in the Core (C) region among 4 ORFs. These data support previous results that Korean HBV strains, belonging to genotype C2, are p...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although there have been a few reports regarding the effect of basal core promoter (BCP) double mutations (A1762T and G1764A) on hepatitis B viral loads, the association remains uncertain. We aim to determine the association after controlling for HBeAg - a strong confounding factor. METHODS We selected randomly 190 individuals from a Chinese cohort of 2258 subjects for cross-s...

SUMMARY The impact of mutations in the precore and basal core promoter (BCP) regions of the hepatitis B virus on the course of chronic liver disease is not well established. We sought to examine the relationship of these characteristics to the clinical expression of liver disease in patients infected with genotype D chronic hepatitis B (CHB). BCP and precore mutations in 110 patients with genot...

background association of hepatitis b virus (hbv) genotype c with hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) development remains controversial. hbv basal core promoter (bcp) double mutations (t1762a1764) are very strong confounding factors of genotypes b and c in hcc development. objectives to investigate the association of hbv genotype c with hcc development after controlling for bcp double mutations. mat...

Background: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) plays a crucial role in regulating the levels and functions of a large number of proteins in the cell, which are important for cancer cell growth and survival. The proteasome is highly activated in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), which is the most common malignancy in children. The attempt to inhibit proteasome as a ther...

We have investigated the role that proteolytic enzymes in Aplysia hemolymph play in the inactivation of the neurotransmitter alpha-bag cell peptide (alpha-BCP(1-9), Ala-Pro-Arg-Leu-Arg-Phe-Tyr-Ser-Leu). alpha-BCP fragments containing Pro in positions 1 or 2, or Tyr in position 1, were degraded relatively slowly (half-life, t1/2 = 10-64 min), whereas fragments lacking these residues were degrade...

The bag cell neurons of the marine mollusk, Aplysia, are a putative multitransmitter system that utilizes two or more peptide transmitters derived from a common precursor protein. Two putative transmitters are egg-laying hormone (ELH), a 36 amino acid peptide that induces egg laying and mediates bag cell-induced excitatory effects on certain abdominal ganglion neurons, and alpha-bag cell peptid...

Peroxiredoxins, the enzymes that catalyze the reduction of hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides, are ubiquitous proteins that protect organisms from damage by reactive oxygen species. Helicobacter pylori contains three members of the peroxiredoxin family: AhpC (alkyl hydroperoxide reductase), Tpx (thiol-specific peroxidase), and bacterioferritin comigratory protein (BCP). In this study,...