Hepatitis B Surface Antigen: A Pivotal Role in the Virus–Host Interactions
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1739
Special Issue Editors
Interests: hepatitis virus; HBV; HCV
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), the surface antigen encoded by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), is the main component of the viral envelope of HBV but also of its occasional satellite virus, the Hepatitis Delta virus (HDV). These two human viruses cause chronic infection of the liver, which may lead to severe liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The elimination of HBsAg from the blood circulation becomes a main goal for achieving a long-term functional cure in patients.
HBsAg is produced from a single open reading frame that gives rise to three different isoforms that differ in their N-terminal ends, namely, the small (S-HBsAg), the medium (M-HBsAg), and the large (L-HBsAg). In chronically infected individuals, HBsAg is mostly found as part of non-infectious subviral particles (SVPs) composed almost exclusively of S-HBsAg that are in large excess over the infectious HBV virion (Dane particles). Infectious HBV and HDV virions contain the three HBsAg isoforms, where S-HBsAg drives virions morphogenesis and L-HBsAg is essential for the recruitment of the HBV capsid as well as for viral entry into hepatocytes through its direct interaction with the sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP) receptor.
In this Special Issue, we welcome any novel works regarding HBsAg translation, maturation, intracellular trafficking, SVP and Dane particle formation and secretion, meaningful HBsAg–host protein interaction, and its involvement in cell entry.
Dr. Patrick Labonte
Dr. Matthieu Blanchet
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- hepatitis B surface antigen
- HBsAg
- HBV
- HDV
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