With about 350 million people chronically infected around the world hepatitis B is a major health problem. Template for progeny HBV synthesis is the viral genome, organized as a minichromosome (cccDNA) inside the hepatocyte nucleus. How viral cccDNA gene expression is regulated by its chromatin structure; more importantly, how the modulation of this structure impacts on viral gene expression remains elusive. Here, we found that the enzyme SetDB1 contributes to setting up a repressed cccDNA chromatin state. This repressive state is activated by the histone lysine demethylase-1 (LSD1). Consistently, inhibiting or reducing LSD1 levels led to repression of viral gene expression. This correlates with the transcriptionally repressive mark H3K9 methylation and reduction on the activating marks H3 acetylation and H3K4 methylation on viral promoters. Investigating the importance of viral proteins we found that LSD1 recruitment to viral promoters was dependent on the viral transactivator protein HBx. Moreover, the histone methyltransferase Set1A and HBx are simultaneously bound to the core promoter, and Set1A expression correlates with cccDNA H3K4 methylation. Our results shed light on the mechanisms of HBV regulation mediated by the cccDNA chromatin structure, offering new therapeutic targets to develop drugs for the treatment of chronically infected HBV patients.

Regulation of gene expression at the level of transcription involves the concerted action of several proteins and protein complexes committed to dynamically alter the surrounding chromatin environment of a gene being activated or repressed. ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes are key actors in chromatin remodeling, and the SWI/SNF complex is the founding member. While many studies have linked the action of these complexes to specific transcriptional regulation of a large number of genes and much is known about their catalytic activity, less is known about the nuclear elements that can enhance or modulate their activity. A number of studies have found that certain High Mobility Group (HMG) proteins are able to stimulate ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling activity, but their influence on the different biochemical outcomes of this activity is still unknown. In this work we studied the influence of the yeast Nhp6A, Nhp6B and Hmo1 proteins (HMGB family members) on different biochemical outcomes of yeast SWI/SNF remodeling activity. We found that all these HMG proteins stimulate the sliding activity of ySWI/SNF, while transient exposure of nucleosomal DNA and octamer transfer catalyzed by this complex are only stimulated by Hmo1. Consistently, only Hmo1 stimulates SWI/SNF binding to the nucleosome. Additionally, the sliding activity of another chromatin remodeling complex, ISW1a, is only stimulated by Hmo1. Further analyses show that these differential stimulatory effects of Hmo1 are dependent on the presence of its C-terminal tail, which contains a stretch of acidic and basic residues.

Genotype F is one of the less-studied genotypes of human hepatitis B virus, although it is widely distributed in regions of Central and South American. Our previous studies have shown that HBV genotype F is prevalent in Chile, and phylogenetic analysis of its full-length sequence amplified from the sera of chronically infected patients identified it as HBV subgenotype F1b. We have previously reported the full-length sequence of a HBV molecular clone obtained from a patient chronically infected with genotype F1b. In this report, we established a system to study HBV replication based on hepatoma cell lines transfected with full-length monomers of the HBV genome. Culture supernatants were analyzed after transfection and found to contain both HBsAg and HBeAg viral antigens. Consistently, fractionated cell extracts revealed the presence of viral replication, with both cytoplasmic and nuclear DNA intermediates. Analysis of HBV-transfected cells by indirect immunofluorescence or immunoelectron microscopy revealed the expression of viral antigens and cytoplasmic viral particles, respectively. To test the functionality of the ongoing viral replication further at the level of chromatinized cccDNA, transfected cells were treated with a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and this resulted in increased viral replication. This correlated with changes posttranslational modifications of histones at viral promoters. Thus, the development of this viral replication system for HBV genotype F will facilitate studies on the regulation of viral replication and the identification of new antiviral drugs.