Page 70 - CIBEREHD2016-ENG

LEAD rESEArCHEr
Esteban Mur, Rafael
Fundación Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebron - Institut de Recerca (VHIR) Hospital Vall d’Hebron Passeig Vall d’Hebron, 119-129 08035 Barcelona
group Website
GROUP MEMBERS
Staff members: Ruiz Ripa, Alicia | Sopena Santisteve, Sara | Tabernero Caellas, David
Associated members: Buti Ferrer, María Asunción | Riveiro Barciela, María del Mar | Rodríguez Frías, Francisco
Main lines of research
• Platform for chronic hepatitis B patients data collection (CIBEREHP).
• Study of hepatitis B virus (HBV) quasispecies using massive sequencing:
- Study of the regions of HBV envelope proteins involved in the interaction and entry of HBV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) into hepatocytes (preS1 region).
- Study of regulatory regions from HBV genome (basal core promoter, enhancer II...).
- Study of the different viral populations with substitutions, insertions or deletions in the HBV X protein promoter and coding regions, to locate conserved regions that can be used as potential therapeutic targets.
• Study of the clinical application of new markers of chronic HBV infection: - Quantification of circulating HBV core protein related antigens (HBcrAg). - Quantification of HBV surface antigen (qnHBsAg).
- Quantification of circulating pregenomic HBV RNA (pgRNA).
• Study of replication of different HBV of genomes in vitro.
• Study of HDV quasispecies by massive sequencing:
- Evolution rate of circulating HDV RNA in patients with chronic delta hepatitis.
- Quantification of circulating edited [amber stop codon at position 196 of the delta antigen (HDAg)] and unedited genomes (tryptophan codon at position 196 of the HDAg).
- Complexity of viral population.
- Search for interaction mechanisms between HBV and HDV.
• Collaboration with the hepatitis delta international network (HDIN).
• Infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV).
70
PROGRAMMES
P3