Abstract
Most chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) do not respond to interferon (IFN) treatment. This limitation of IFN therapy may be due in part to scant expression of IFN receptor in the liver1,2. Because the asialoglycoprotein (ASGP) receptor is specifically expressed in the liver at high density3, the ASGP receptor-binding domain was generated within an N-glycosylated human IFN-β molecule4,5 by the removal of sialic acid to direct this cytokine to the liver. This modified IFN (asialo-IFN-β) demonstrated greater inhibition of HBV production in ASGP receptor-positive human liver cells transfected with a replication-competent HBV construct than did conventional IFN-α or IFN-β. Furthermore, the enhanced antiviral effect of asialo-IFN-β was supported by induction of the 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase, an indicator of IFN activity6, at a level significantly higher than that produced by conventional IFN-β. Moreover, mouse asialo-IFN-β profoundly reduced viremia in vivo in HBV-transfected athymic nude mice, in contrast to conventional IFN-β, which had no substantial effect. These experiments demonstrate that directing IFN to ASGP receptor facilitates its signaling in the liver and augments its antiviral effect, and is therefore useful in overcoming the limited antiviral effect of conventional IFNs.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Peska, S. The interferon receptors. Semin. Oncol. 9, S9–18–S9–40 (1997).
Rubinstein, M. & Orchansky, P. The interferon receptors. Crit. Rev. Biochem. 21, 249–75 (1986).
Eisenberg, C. et al. Asialoglycoprotein receptor in human isolated hepatocytes from normal liver and its apparent increase in liver with histological alterations. J. Hepatol. 13, 305–309 (1991).
Derynck, R. et al. Isolation and structure of a human fibroblast interferon gene. Nature 285, 542–547 (1980).
Conradt, H.S. et al. Structure of the carbohydrate moiety of human interferon-β secreted by a recombinant chinese hamster ovary cell line. J. Biol. Chem. 262, 14600–14605 ( 1987).
Shindo, M. et al. Serum 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase activity during interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Hepatology 8, 366–370 (1988).
Tiollais, P., Pourcel, C. & Dejean, A. The hepatitis B virus. Nature 317, 489–495 (1985).
Ashwell, G., Harford, J. Carbohydrate-specific receptors of the liver. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 51, 531 –554 (1982).
Wong, D.K.H. et al. Effect of alpha-Interferon treatment in patients with hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B. A meta-analysis. Ann. Intern. Med. 119, 312–323 (1993).
Takahashi, H., Fujimoto, J., Hanada, S. & Isselbacher, K.J. Acute hepatitis in rats expressing human hepatitis B virus transgenes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 92, 1470–1474 (1995).
Schwartz, A. L., Fridovich, S.E., Knowles, B.B. & Lodish, H.F. Characterization of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in a continuous hepatoma cell line. J. Biol. Chem. 256, 8878– 8881 (1981).
Liang, T.J. et al. Targeted transfection and expression of hepatitis B viral DNA in human hepatoma cells. J. Clin. Invest. 91, 1241–1246 (1993).
Kawade, Y. An analysis of neutralization reaction of interferon by antibody: a proposal on the expression of neutralization titer. J. Interferon Res. 1, 61–70 (1980).
Redlich, P.N., Hoeprich, P.D. Jr., Colby, C.B., & Grossberg, S.E. Antibodies that neutralize human beta interferon biologic activity recognize a linear epitope: analysis by synthetic peptide mapping. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 4040– 4044 (1991).
Higashi, Y. et al. Structure and expression of a cloned cDNA for mouse interferon-β. J. Biol. Chem. 258, 9522– 9529 (1983).
Karpusas, M. et al. The crystal structure of human interferon β at 2.2-Å resolution. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 11813–11818 (1997).
Lee, Y.C. et al. Binding of synthetic oligosaccharides to the hepatic Gal/GalNAc lectin. Dependence on fine structural features. J. Biol. Chem. 258, 199–202 ( 1983).
Tartaglia, L.A., Pennica, D. & Goeddel, D.V. Ligand passing: The 75-kDa tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor recruits TNF for signaling by the 55-kDa TNF receptor. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 18542–18548 (1993).
Huez, G. Silhol, M. & Lebleu, B. Microinjected interferon does not promote an antiviral response in Hela cells. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 110, 155–160 (1983).
Branca, A.A., Faltynek, C.R., D'Alessandro, S.B. & Baglioni, C. Interaction of interferon with cellular receptors. Internalization and degradation of cell-bound interferon. J. Biol. Chem. 257, 13291–13296 (1982).
Seif, I., De Maeyer, E., Riviere, I. & De Maeyer-Guignard, J. Stable antiviral expression in BALB/c 3T3 cells carrying a beta interferon sequence behind a major histocompatibility complex promoter fragment. J. Virol. 65, 664–671 ( 1991).
Killion, J.J. et al. Augmentation of antiproliferative activity of interferon alfa against human bladder tumor cell lines by encapsulation of interferon alfa within liposomes. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 81, 1387–1392 (1989).
Burgess, J.B., Baenziger, J.U., Brown, W.R. Abnormal surface distribution of the human asialoglycoprotein receptor in cirrhosis. Hepatology 15, 702 –706 (1992).
Hyodo, I., Mizuno, M., Yamada, G. & Tsuji, T. Distribution of asialoglycoprotein receptor in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver 13, 80–85 ( 1993).
Trubetskoy, V.S., Torchilin, V.P., Kennel, S. & Huang, L. Cationic liposomes enhance targeted delivery and expression of exogenous DNA mediated by N-terminal modified poly(L-lysine)-antibody conjugate in mouse lung endothelial cells. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1131 , 311–313 (1992).
Acknowledgements
We thank S. Goelz (Biogen) and S. Yamazaki (Toray Industries) for the preparations of mouse and human IFN-βs; V. Trubetskoy and V. Torchilin for the preparation of in vivo transfection reagents; D. Frederick for technical assistance; T. Takehara, J.L. Dienstag and D.K. Podolsky for critical review of this manuscript; and H. Tsubouchi for support of T.E. This work was supported by Grants CA57584 and NIDDK4331 from the National Institutes of Health and an Educational Grant from Toray Industries.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Eto, T., Takahashi, H. Enhanced inhibition of hepatitis B virus production by asialoglycoprotein receptor-directed interferon. Nat Med 5, 577–581 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/8462
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/8462
This article is cited by
-
Multiple therapeutic effect of endothelial progenitor cell regulated by drugs in diabetes and diabetes related disorder
Journal of Translational Medicine (2017)
-
Development of a surrogate potency assay to determine the angiogenic activity of Stempeucel®, a pooled, ex-vivo expanded, allogeneic human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell product
Stem Cell Research & Therapy (2017)
-
Triglycerides and blood pressure in relation to circulating CD34-positive cell levels among community-dwelling elderly Japanese men: a cross-sectional study
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine (2017)
-
Association between high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and hypertension in relation to circulating CD34-positive cell levels
Journal of Physiological Anthropology (2017)
-
Vascular and perivascular niches, but not the osteoblastic niche, are numerically restored following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with aplastic anemia
International Journal of Hematology (2017)