Induction of endoplasmic reticulum-mediated stress pathways in liver cancer cell lines after overexpression of Hepatitis B virus envelope proteins

Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most common cancer worldwide. More than 90% of HCCs develop in cirrhotic livers on a background of chronic liver disease, esp. infection with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Although HBV has been documented to cause HCC, the exact role of HBV remains enigmatic. HBV is a hepatotropic virus with an outer lipoprotein envelope that consists of 3 proteins, the small (SHBs), the middle (MHBs) and the large surface protein (LHBs) that are also secreted as non-infectious subviral particles via the secretory pathway. The LHBs cannot build viral particles by itself, but n…