A novel hepatitis B virus species discovered in capuchin monkeys sheds new light on the evolution of primate hepadnaviruses

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Breno Frederico de Carvalho Dominguez
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Konig, Alexander, Rasche, Andrea, Carneiro, Ianei de Oliveira, Stephan, Nora, Corman, Victor Max, Roppert, Pia Luise, Goldmann, Nora, Kepper, Ramona, Muller, Simon Franz, Volker, Christof, Souza, Alex Junior Souza de, Gouvêa, Michele Soares Gomes, Soto, Andrés Moreira, Stocker, Andreas, Nassal, Michael, Franke, Carlos Roberto, Pinho, João Renato Rebello, Soares, Manoel do Carmo Pereira, Geyer, Joachim, Lemey, Philippe, Drosten, Christian, Martins Netto, Eduardo, Glebe, Dieter, Drexler, Jan Felix
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/3086
• topic: Hepatite B; Vírus da Hepatite B; Primatas / virologia; Hepatite Viral Animal / patogenicidade; Reservatórios de Doenças / veterinária

All known hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes occur in humans and hominoid Old World nonhuman primates (NHP). The divergent Woolly Monkey HBV (WMHBV) forms another orthohepadnavirus species. The evolutionary origins of HBV are unclear. Methods: We analyzed sera from 124 Brazilian monkeys collected during 2012-2016 for hepadnaviruses using molecular and serological tools and conducted evolutionary analyses. Results: We identified a novel orthohepadnavirus species in capuchin monkeys (CMHBV). We found CMHBV-specific antibodies in five animals and high CMHBV concentrations in one animal. Non-inflammatory, probably chronic infection was consistent with an intact preCore domain, low genetic variability, core deletions in deep sequencing, and no elevated liver enzymes. Cross-reactivity of antisera against surface antigens suggested antigenic relatedness of HBV, CMHBV and WMHBV. Infection-determining CMHBV surface peptides bound to the human HBV receptor (hNTCP), but preferentially interacted with the capuchin monkey receptor homologue. CMHBV and WMHBV pseudotypes infected human hepatoma cells via the hNTCP and were poorly neutralized by HBV vaccine-derived antibodies, suggesting cross-species infections may be possible. Ancestral state reconstructions and sequence distance comparisons associated HBV with humans, whereas primate hepadnaviruses as a whole were projected to NHP ancestors. Co-phylogenetic analyses yielded evidence for co-speciation of hepadnaviruses and New World NHP. Bayesian hypothesis testing yielded strong support for an association of the HBV stem lineage with hominoid ancestors. Neither CMHBV, nor WMHBV were likely ancestors of the divergent human HBV genotypes F/H found in American natives. Conclusions: Our data suggest ancestral co-speciation of hepadnaviruses and NHP and an Old World origin of the divergent HBV genotypes F/H. Identification of a novel primate hepadnavirus offers new perspectives for urgently needed animal models of chronic hepatitis B.