RNA Helicase DDX17 Inhibits Hepatitis B Virus Replication by Blocking Viral Pregenomic RNA Encapsidation
Richeng Mao, Minhui Dong, Zhongliang Shen, Hu Zhang, Yuanjie Liu, Dawei Cai, Bidisha Mitra, Jiming Zhang, Haitao Guo
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronic infection, a long-studied but yet incurable disease, remains a major public health concern worldwide. Given that HBV replication cycle highly depends on host factors, deepening our understanding of the host-virus interaction is thus of great significance in the journey of finding a cure. In eukaryotic cells, RNA helicases of the DEAD box family are highly conserved enzymes involved in diverse processes of cellular RNA metabolism. Emerging data have shown that DDX17, a typical member of the DEAD box family, functions as an antiviral factor through interacting with viral RNA. In this study, we, for the first time, demonstrate that DDX17 inhibits HBV through blocking the formation of viral replication complex, which not only broadens the antiviral spectrum of DDX17 but also provides new insight into the molecular mechanism of DDX17-mediated virus-host interaction.