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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Sep 8, 2016; 8(25): 1061-1066
Published online Sep 8, 2016. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i25.1061
Inhibition of apoptosis by oncogenic hepatitis B virus X protein: Implications for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma
Chuck C K Chao
Chuck C K Chao, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
Chuck C K Chao, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
Chuck C K Chao, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkuo, Liver Research Center, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan
Author contributions: The author solely contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Chuck C K Chao, PhD, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, No.259, Wenhua 1st Rd., Guishan Dist, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. cckchao@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Telephone: +886-32-118800-5151 Fax: +886-32-118700
Received: April 21, 2016
Peer-review started: April 22, 2016
First decision: June 6, 2016
Revised: June 27, 2016
Accepted: July 20, 2016
Article in press: July 22, 2016
Published online: September 8, 2016
Processing time: 145 Days and 19.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays a critical role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatoma upregulated protein (HURP) is an oncogene that is upregulated in a majority of HCC cases. However, the role of these proteins in the response of HCC cells to chemotherapeutic drugs remains unclear. We show here that the HBx/SATB1/HURP axis plays a critical role in down-regulating p53 and upregulating anti-apoptotic proteins in vitro and in vivo. We discuss the regulation of this novel pathway and its implications in resistance of HCC cells to chemotherapy.