Rapamycin Enhances HBV Production by Inducing Cellular Autophagy

Background: some reports revealed that rapamycin could reactivate hbv infection. however, the mechanism has not been clearly explained. objectives: in this report, we studied the mechanism by which rapamycin enhances hbv replication and expression by inducing cellular autophagy. materials and methods: hepg2.2.15 cells were treated with rapamycin to induce autophagy. utophagosomes were observed by fluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. autophagy marker protein lc3-ⅱ/lc3-ⅰwas detected by western blotting. hbv dna and mrna were determined by real time pcr and southern blotting. hbsag was evaluated by elisa. results: in hepg2.2.15 cells, hbv dna and hbsag increased when host cells were treated with rapamycin and the effect was reversed by autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine (3-ma). conclusions: these results indicated a potential explanation for reactivation of hbv infection when patients with hepatitis receive rapamycin.