Scientists Develop Micro Weapon to Disable HBV's Cancer-Causing X Protein

— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate

Researchers in New Zealand may have found a way to disable HBV's X-protein–the culprit that enables HBV to integrate into liver cells and causes liver cancer. Scientists developed a micro weapon called a PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimeric molecule) that targets and disables the X-protein.

According to their report published in the October issue of the journal of Biochemistry and Biophysical Research Communications, the cell-penetrating PROTAC they developed simultaneously disables the X-protein's functionality and causes it to degrade.

To date researchers have experimented with the PROTAC only in a laboratory setting. Researchers are now calling for preclinical studies of PROTAC to test its ability to prevent or treat HBV infection and liver cancer in human patients.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25305486

http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ11.11.htm

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