<link file:3650 download file>Prof. Daniel Shouval,
Professor Emeritus of Medicine and the Haim Yassky Professor of Social Medicine at the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Faculty in Jerusalem, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and former Director of the Liver Unit<link file:3650 download file>,
Title: How ancient is the hepatitis B virus? Tracing hepatitis B virus to the 16th century in a Korean mummy
<link file:3650 download file>Business lunch: 12:30 h,
Lecture: 13:00 h
Where: TWINCORE Lecture Hall (0.02)
Abstract (adapted from the original publication):
The discovery of a mummified Korean child with relatively preserved organs enabled a search for ancient hepatitis B virus (aHBV). With the viral DNA sequences recovered from laparoscopic-derived liver biopsies of the mummy, the entire ancient hepatitis B viral genome could be mapped and represents the oldest full viral genome described in the scientific literature to date. Analysis of the complete aHBV genome (3,215 base pairs) revealed a unique HBV genotype C2 (HBV/C2) sequence commonly spread in Southeast Asia, which probably represents an HBV that infected the Joseon Dynasty population in Korea. Comparison of the aHBV sequences with contemporary HBV/C2 DNA sequences revealed distinctive differences along four open reading frames. Genetic diversity between contemporary and recovered aHBV/C2 DNA may be the result of immunologic, environmental, and/or pharmacologic pressures. The calculated time of most recent common ancestor suggests that the Korean HBV sequence origin dates back at least 3,000 years and possibly as long as 100,000 years. This isolate most likely represents the earliest human HBV sequence that colonized Southeast Asia by human migration.
The ancient HBV genomes can now serve as a model for future study of the evolution of chronic hepatitis B and help us understand how the virus spread, possibly from Africa to East Asia. The data may shed further light on the migratory pathway of hepatitis B in the Far East from China and Japan to Korea, as well as to other regions in Asia and Australia, where it is a major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Conact: <link internal-link internal link in current>Prof. Dr. Michael Manns, Hannover Medical School (MHH), Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany, Phone +49 (0) 511 532 3305