Protein profile in hepatitis B virus replicating rat primary hepatocytes and HepG2 cells by iTRAQ-coupled 2-D LC-MS/MS analysis: Insights on liver angiogenesis

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and in particular Hepatitis B Virus X Protein have been shown to modulate angiogenesis. However, a comprehensive and coordinated mechanism in the HBV-induced angiogenesis remains to be established. In this study, transient transfection of replicative HBV genome was carried out in rat primary hepatocytes (RPHs) as well as HepG2 cells. Angiogenesis was assessed by tube formation assay. 2-D LC-MS/MS analysis was used to detect differentially expressed proteins in cells, supporting HBV replication compared with those transfected with the empty vector. A cell-based HBV replication was established in both RPHs and HepG2 cells. HBV replication-induced angiogenesis was indicated by tube formation of endothelial cells cultured in condition medium from RPHs or HepG2 cells supporting HBV replication. Enzymes associated with angiogenesis, namely fumarate hydratase and tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase, were identified by 2-D LC-MS/MS analysis in HBV replicating RPHs and HepG2 cells. Our results indicated that the application of quantitative proteomics based on iTRAQ can be an effective approach to evaluate the effects of HBV replication on liver angiogenesis. The angiogenesis-associated proteins identified in our study may eventually lead to novel anti-angiogenic hepatocellular carcinoma cancer therapy based on tumor vascular targeting or be the markers for hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis.