Hepatitis B doubly spliced protein (HBDSP) promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell apoptosis via ETS1/GATA2/YY1-mediated p53 transcription.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) spliced variants are associated with viral persistence or pathogenicity. Hepatitis B doubly spliced protein (HBDSP), which has been previously reported as a pleiotropic transactivator protein, can potentially serve as an HBV virulence factor. However, the underlying mechanisms of HBDSP in HBV-associated liver diseases remain to be elucidated. In this study, we revealed that HBDSP promotes cellular apoptosis and induces wt--dependent apoptotic signaling pathway in wt- hepatocellular cells by transactivating p53 transcription, and increases the release of HBV progeny. Therefore, HBDSP may promote the HBV particles release through wt--dependent hepatocellular apoptosis. Our findings suggest that blocking HBDSP-induced wt--dependent apoptosis might have therapeutic values for chronic hepatitis B.