Chronic infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), is strongly associated with hepatitis, fatty liver and hepatocellular carcinoma. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, we characterize the metabolic features of host cells infected with the virus using systems biological approach. The results show that HBV replication induces systematic metabolic alterations in host cells. HBV infection up-regulates the biosynthesis of hexosamine and phosphatidylcholine by activating glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase 1 (GFAT1) and choline kinase alpha (CHKA) respectively, which were reported for the first time for HBV infection. Importantly suppressing hexosamine biosynthesis and phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis can inhibit HBV replication and expression. In addition, HBV induces oxidative stress and stimulates central carbon metabolism and nucleotide synthesis. Our results also indicate that HBV associated hepatocellular carcinoma could be attributed to GFAT1 activated hexosamine biosynthesis and CHKA activated phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. This study provides further insights into the pathogenesis of HBV-induced diseases, and sheds new light on drug target for treating HBV infection.

In addition to manipulating cellular homeostasis and survivability, autophagy also plays a crucial role in numerous viral infections. In this study, we discover that Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection results in the accumulation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II) protein and GFP-LC3 puncta in vitro and an increase in autophagosomes/autolysosomes in vivo. The fusion between autophagosomes and lysosomes is essential for virus replication. Knockdown of autophagy-related genes reduced JEV replication in vitro, as indicated by viral RNA and protein levels. We also note that JEV infection in autophagy-impaired cells displayed active caspases cleavage and cell death. Moreover, we find that JEV induces higher type I interferon (IFN) activation in cells deficient in autophagy-related genes as the cells exhibited increased phosphorylation and dimerization of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) aggregation. Finally, we find that autophagy is indispensable for efficient JEV replication even in an IFN-defective background. Overall, our studies provide the first description of the mechanism of the autophagic innate immune signaling pathway during JEV infection.