VIROLOGY - MCB 5505

GENUS DELTAVIRUS : HEPATITIS D (HDV)

I. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
A. CIRCULAR, - STRAND RNA, VIROID LIKE
B. SATELLITE OF HEPATITIS B (HBV)
C. SURFACE PROTEINS DERIVED FROM HBV
D. SMALLEST ANIMAL VIRUS KNOWN
E. CAN SELF CLEAVE AND SELF LIGATE

II. STRUCTURE
A. SIZE: 35 nm IN DIAMETER
B. ENVELOPE: UNSURE BUT SURFACE ANTIGENS FROM HBV
1. HBV ANTIGEN PROTEIN RATIO IN HDV: L (LARGE) : 1
M (MEDIUM): 15
S (SMALL) : 95
2. A "S-ONLY" HDV HAS BEEN MADE BUT L ANTIGEN APPEARS
NECESSARY FOR LIVER RECEPTOR BINDING
3. OTHER PROTEINS: LARGE AND SMALL DELTA ANTIGENS, ONLY
PROTEIN CODED FOR IN THE HDV GENOME

HBV SURFACE
ANTIGENS: S,M,L
SS RNA GENOME
S AND L DELTA
ANTIGENS

C. NUCLEOCAPSID
1. NUCLEIC ACID
a. TYPE: RNA BALTIMORE TYPE V
b. STRANDED: SS
c. POLARITY: -
d. GENOME SIZE: ∼ 1700 BP
e. NUMBER OF GENES: 1 (2 PROTEINS/1 MRNA)
2. MAP:

0 335 670 1005 1340

Delta antigen
Small: 585 nt
Large: 642 nt
3. CAPSID: ?

III. CLASSIFICATION AND CHARACTERISTIC MEMBERS

GENUS MEMBERS
DELTAVIRUS HEPATITIS DELTA VIRUS
 • ONLY MEMBER OF THIS GENUS. HAS VIROID LIKE PROPERTIES IN THAT
IT'S CIRCULAR AND SELF-CLEAVING, BUT IS UNLIKE VIROIDS SINCE
IT CODES FOR A PROTEIN

IV. VIRAL MULTIPLICATION

A. ABSORPTIOM, PENETRATION, AND UNCOATING- NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD.
BELIEVED TO BE ANALOGOUS TO ITS HELPER VIRUS HBV
B. GENOME SERVES AS A TEMPLATE FOR TRANSCRIPTION OF MRNA THROUGH
USE OF HOST POL II. 3' END OF TRANSCRIPT IS STABILIZED THRU
SELF-CLEAVAGE REACTION AND TRANSCRIPTION CONTINUES AROUND THE
GENOME. THE ELONGATING RNA UNDERGOES BOTH SELF CLEAVAGE AND
SELF LIGATION TO YIELD THE + ANTIGENOMIC RNA (= ROLLING
CIRCLE). THE ANTIGENOME THEN SERVES AS A TEMPLATE
FOR REPLICATION OF – STRAND
C. AT SOME POINT IN VIRAL REPLICATION, SOME OF THE HDV GENOMES
ENCODING S-ANTIGENS MUTATE INTO GENOMES ENCODING L-ANTIGENS.
THIS OCCURS VIA A UAG Æ UGG MUTATION. ITS THOUGHT THAT THE
S-ANTIGEN IS A BINDING PROTEIN NEEDED DURING VIRAL REPLICATION
AND THE SWITCH TO THE L-ANTIGEN PRODUCTION SIGNALS THE SWITCH
TO VIRAL PACKAGING AND ASSEMBLY

V. CLINICAL CORRELATIONS

1. HDV CAN EITHER CO-INFECT WITH HBV OF SUPERINFECT HBV+

PATIENTS. MOST CASES OF HDV-HBV COINFECTION CAUSE ACUTE
HEPATITIS AND NEVER BECOME CHRONIC BECAUSE THE HDV SEEMS TO
SUPRESS THE HBV REPLICATION AS WELL AS ITS OWN PRODUCTION.
MANY CASES OF HBV/HDV SUPERINFECTION DEVELOP SEVERE ACUTE
HEPATITIS WITH ∼ 70-90 % OF PATIENTS DEVELOPING CHRONIC
HEPATITIS. CO-INFECTION IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER LIVER
DISORDERS SUCH AS CIRRHOSIS AND LIVER CANCER.
2. CURRENT TREATMENT INVOLVES PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF THE HELPER
VIRUS, HBV. HOWEVER, ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS TARGETING THE LARGE-
DELTA ANTIGEN ARE BEING CONSIDERED