Abstract
The antiviral cascade triggered by interferon-γ (IFN-γ) represents a vital event for eradicating hepatitis B virus (HBV) in experimental animals. IFN-γ signaling is mediated through the ligand binding to IFN-γ receptor 1 (IFNGR1). Control of IFNGR1 expression level is one of the mechanisms by which cells modulate the potency of IFN-γ signaling. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IFNGR1 gene and correlated their occurrence to susceptibility to HBV infection in a Chinese population. A total of 983 participants, including 361 chronic hepatitis B patients, 256 individuals who had spontaneously recovered from HBV infection, and 366 healthy control subjects, were enrolled in the study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to identify seven SNPs (–611A/G, –56C/T, 40G/A, 95C/T, 130A/G, 20685A/G, 21227T/C) in IFNGR1 gene. We found that –56C and –56T allele were associated with viral clearance and viral persistence, respectively (P = 0.014). In a reporter-driven assay, we validated that the promoter variant with –56C exhibited a higher transcription level than that with –56T in HepG2 cells in a cell-type-specific pattern. We conclude that a functional –56C/T SNP in IFNGR1 promoter is associated with the clinical outcome of HBV infection in this Chinese population.



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Abbreviations
- IFN-γ:
-
Interferon-γ
- IFNGR1:
-
IFN-γ receptor 1
- HBV:
-
Hepatitis B virus
- SNP:
-
Single nucleotide polymorphism
- CHP:
-
Chronic hepatitis B patients
- SRI:
-
Spontaneous recovered individuals
- HCS:
-
Healthy control subjects
- PCR-RFLP:
-
Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism
- LD:
-
Linkage disequilibrium
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This work was supported in part by the University Development Fund of the University of Hong Kong.
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J. Zhou and D.-Q. Chen contributed to this study equally.
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Zhou, J., Chen, DQ., Poon, V.K.M. et al. A regulatory polymorphism in interferon-γ receptor 1 promoter is associated with the susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Immunogenetics 61, 423–430 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-009-0377-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-009-0377-8