IFNα subtype-specific susceptibility of HBV in the course of infection

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Kathrin Sutter
• Subject Area: Virology
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410256219

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a major health problem worldwide, and remains hard to be cured. Immunotherapy with Interferon α (IFNα) is an important method for the clinical treatment of chronic hepatitis B. IFNα exhibits direct antiviral effect as well as immunomodulatory activities, which can induce sustained antiviral responses in part of the treated chronic hepatitis B patients. However, our previous studies have demonstrated that the clinically used subtype (IFNα2) is not the most effective subtype for the anti-HBV treatment among all IFNα subtypes. So far very little is known about the IFNα subtype-specific susceptibility during the course of HBV infection and its related cellular and molecular mechanism. In the current project, by employing human clinical samples, in vitro cellular models as well as in vivo animal models, we want to firstly study the induction of IFNA subtypes in different tissues from HBV-infected patients and we will correlate this with ISG expression pattern in different patient cohorts. We also aim to investigate the antiviral effects of specific human IFNα subtypes on HBV cccDNA, which is a major hurdle in eradicating HBV. Further analysis of the immune response against HBV in the context of IFN-mediated immunotherapies and the role of individual cell subsets will be investigated. The results of the study will provide theoretical and experimental evidences for designing new targeted immunotherapeutic strategies for chronic hepatitis B infection.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: China
• Partner Organisation: National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Jia Liu