The Department of Biological Chemistry kindly invites to the following talk:
Professor Dr. Anne Schütz, LMU München, Germany
"Tales of a Temperamental Protein – Taming the Non-Structural Protein of the Hepatitis B Virus"
Abstract:
To evade host defence mechanisms, many viruses encode proteins that disturb cellular signalling pathways. The small non-structural HBx protein of the human Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is essential for viral replication as it promotes the transcription of the extrachromosomal viral DNA. A truncated isoform of HBx, found in chronically infected patients, is linked to the carcinogenicity of HBV, which afflicts millions globally.
The ‘x’ in HBx refers to its unique amino acid sequence, which is not homologous to proteins of known fold, while being conserved across mammalian hepadnaviruses. There is so far no model of a hypothetical structure; over 200 human host proteins have been postulated to potentially engage HBx, but few of these interactions have been verified in vitro.
Towards understanding the functional interactions of HBx, we present an analysis of its conformational dynamics using solution NMR experiments. We find a dynamically disordered protein that folds upon forming complexes. These findings are discussed in the context of alphafold predictions and hypotheses on how HBx subverts viral antagonists, creating a cellular environment that is conducive to viral replication.