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Review
. 2024 Jan 4:13:1234903.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1234903. eCollection 2023.

Decoding the multifaceted interventions between human sirtuin 2 and dynamic hepatitis B viral proteins to confirm their roles in HBV replication

Affiliations
Review

Decoding the multifaceted interventions between human sirtuin 2 and dynamic hepatitis B viral proteins to confirm their roles in HBV replication

Zahra Zahid Piracha et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

The human sirtuin 2 gene (SIRT2) encodes a full-length Sirt2 protein (i.e., the Sirt2 isoform 1), which primarily functions as a cytoplasmic α-tubulin deacetylase, and which promotes the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication itself, or HBV X (HBx) protein-mediated transcriptional transactivation, enhances Sirt2.1 expression; therefore, Sirt2.1 itself is capable of positively increasing HBV transcription and replication. Sirt2.1 is linked to liver fibrosis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and, consequently, augments the risk of HCC. The Sirt2.1 protein enhances the HBV replication cycle by activating the AKT/glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β)/β-catenin pathway. It also activates the transcription of the viral enhancer I/HBx promoter (EnI/Xp) and enhancer II/HBc promoter (EnII/Cp) by targeting the transcription factor p53. The Sirt2 isoform 2 (Sirt2.2) is mainly localized in the cytoplasm, and the N-terminus is shorter by 37 amino acids than that of Sirt2.1. Despite the truncation of the N-terminal region, Sirt2.2 is still capable of enhancing HBV replication and activating the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway. The Sirt2 isoform 5 (Sirt2.5) is primarily localized to the nucleus, it lacks a nuclear export signal (NES), and the catalytic domain (CD) is truncated. Upon HBV replication, expression of the Sirt2 isoforms is also enhanced, which further upregulates the HBV replication, and, therefore, supports the vicious cycle of viral replication and progression of the disease. Sirt2 diversely affects HBV replication such that its isoform 1 intensely augments HBV replication and isoform 2 (despite of the truncated N-terminal region) moderately enhances HBV replication. Isoform 5, on the other hand, tends to protect the cell (for smooth long-term continued viral replication) from HBV-induced extreme damage or death via a discrete set of regulatory mechanisms impeding viral mRNAs, the hepatitis B core/capsid protein (HBc), core particles, replicative intermediate (RI) DNAs, and covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) levels, and, consequently, limiting HBV replication. In contrast to Sirt2.1 and Sirt 2.2, the Sirt2.5-mediated HBV replication is independent of the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling cascade. Sirt2.5 is recruited more at cccDNA than the recruitment of Sirt2.1 onto the cccDNA. This recruitment causes the deposition of more histone lysine methyltransferases (HKMTs), including SETDB1, SUV39H1, EZH2, and PR-Set7, along with the respective corresponding transcriptional repressive markers such as H3K9me3, H3K27me3, and H4K20me1 onto the HBV cccDNA. In HBV-replicating cells, Sirt2.5 can also make complexes with PR-Set7 and SETDB1. In addition, Sirt2.5 has the ability to turn off transcription from cccDNA through epigenetic modification via either direct or indirect interaction with HKMTs.

Keywords: HBV replication; Sirt2.1; Sirt2.2; Sirt2.5; sirtuin 2; sirtuins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Sirt2 isoforms 1 and 2 enhance HBV replication in an HBx-independent manner via the AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway. In Sirt2.1- and 2.2-overexpressing cells the HBV core protein, HBV transcription levels, HBV mRNAs, core particle levels, and HBV DNA levels are significantly enhanced. Sir2.1 and 2.2 enhanced HBV replication in an HBx-independent manner through the AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling cascade, thus supporting HBV propagation and virion egression.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of Sirt2 isoforms and residues are numbered according to the full-length Sirt2 isoform 1. (A) The Sirt2 isoform 1 has NES, CD, and NLS domains and is composed of 389 amino acids. The Sirt2 isoform 2 has common NES, CD, and NLS domains, while the N-terminal region is truncated and consists of 352 amino acids. The isoforms 3 and 4 consist of 369 and 271 amino acids, respectively. For Sirt2.5, the NES and/or N-terminal-truncated catalytic domain consists of 319 amino acids. (B) In contrast to the Sirt2 isoform 1 and/or 2, isoform 5 is mainly localized in the nucleus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Sirt2.5 is critically involved in reducing HBV replication. The catalytically inactive nuclear isoform 5 of Sirt2 antagonizes the effects of isoforms 1 and 2 on HBV replication by inhibiting cccDNA production, viral mRNAs, and, consequently, lowering the synthesis of replicative intermediate DNA. Sirt2.5 more firmly binds to cccDNA, as compared to Sirt2.1, and facilitates epigenetic modification by improving the deposition of transcriptional repressive markers like histone lysine methyl transferases that repressed HBV transcription.

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