Cell Cycle Arrest Protein CDKN2C Is Not an HBV Host Factor

In summary, we demonstrated here that elevated CDKN2C expression was positively correlated with the proliferation state of the parenchymal liver cells, suggesting that CDKN2C expression in necro-inflammatory liver tissues, even though markedly upregulated, was not enough to facilitate the expression of the HBV host factor genes since it failed to repress cell cycle progression. Likewise, no correlation between CDKN2C expression and HBV replication in HBV-infected patients owing to the absence of CDKN2C expression in hepatocytes dominated in quiescent status and animal experiments also confirmed that CDKN2C cannot promote HBV replication in vivo. In conclusion, it is neither CDKN2C nor other single cell cycle specific gene itself, but instead the cell cycle arrest induced by them promotes HBV replication in patients with HBV infection. Hence, it is improper to term these genes as HBV host factors.