Oxford University Press, Nucleic Acids Research, 9(30), p. 2068-2075, 2002
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An interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE)/interferon regulatory element (IRE) spanning nucleotide coordinates 1091-1100 is present in the enhancer 1/X gene promoter region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome. In the context of a minimal promoter element, the enhancer 1/X gene promoter ISRE/IRE was shown to be a functional regulatory site capable of mediating interferon alpha- (IFNalpha) and interferon-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3)-specific transcriptional activation in transient transfection analysis. The enhancer 1/X gene promoter ISRE/IRE was also shown to mediate interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 1 and IRF7 activation of transcription from a minimal promoter construct. In contrast, IFNalpha and the IRFs had minimal effect on HBV transcription and replication in the context of the viral genome in cell culture.