MafF Is an Antiviral Host Factor That Suppresses Transcription from Hepatitis B Virus Core Promoter
Marwa K. Ibrahim, Tawfeek H. Abdelhafez, Junko S. Takeuchi, Kosho Wakae, Masaya Sugiyama, Masataka Tsuge, Masahiko Ito, Koichi Watashi, Mohamed El‐Kassas, Takanobu Kato, Asako Murayama, Tetsuro Suzuki, Kazuaki Chayama, Kunitada Shimotohno, Masamichi Muramatsu, Hussein Hassan Aly, Takaji Wakita
Abstract
HBV is a leading cause of chronic liver diseases, infecting about 250 million people worldwide. HBV has developed strategies to escape interferon-dependent innate immune responses. Therefore, the identification of other anti-HBV mechanisms is important for understanding HBV pathogenesis and developing anti-HBV strategies. MafF was shown to suppress transcription from the HBV core promoter, leading to significant suppression of the HBV life cycle. Furthermore, MafF expression was induced in chronic HBV patients and in primary human hepatocytes (PXB cells). This induction correlated with the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β and TNF-α). These data suggest that the induction of MafF contributes to the host's antiviral defense by suppressing transcription from selected viral promoters. Our data shed light on a novel role for MafF as an anti-HBV host restriction factor.