International HBV Meeting Program

Sunday, September 18, 2022

DISTINGUISHED AWARD IN HBV RESEARCH LECTURE

15:10 - 15:20: Introduction of 2022's Distinguished Award in Hepatitis B Research by Pr Massimo Levrero, Lyon University, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Inserm, CRCL (France)

15:20 - 15:50: Curing HBV: from molecular virology to clinical translation Pr Fabien Zoulim, Lyon University, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Inserm, CRCL (France)

TOP OF THE ART LECTURE

15:50 - 15:55: Introduction of 2022's Top of the Art Lecture by Pr Stephan Urban, University of Heidelberg - DZIF (Germany)

15:55 - 16:35: The Yin and Yang of hepatitis C and hepatitis B virus Pr Ralf Bartenschlager, Albert-Lasker award winner; University of Heidelberg - DZIF (Germany)

16:35 - 16:50: Q&A

WELCOME ADDRESS
Pr Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS-MIE (France)

SESSION I: NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES AND MODEL SYSTEMS
Co-chairs: Maura Dandri (Germany) & Robert Schwartz (USA)

17:00 - 17:30: From hepatocytes to liver organoids: Novel cell culture systems for a better understanding of HBV biology and beyond Dr Viet Loan Dao Thi, University of Heidelberg (Germany)

17:30 - 19:00: Oral Presentations

17:30 - 17:45: Hepatitis B Virus infection of primary and pluripotent stem cell derived multicellular hepatic spheroids reveals complex intracellular and intercellular interactions and host responses 
Pr Robert Schwartz (USA)

17:45 - 18:00: An RNA-based cell culture system to study hepatitis B virus replication, evaluate antivirals, and characterize HBV sequence variants at unprecedented scale
Dr William Schneider (USA)

18:00 - 18:15: Generation of a fluorescent HDV reporter replicon using the split GFP system
Dr Zhenfeng Zhang (Germany) – Virtual presentation

18:15 - 18:30: Transgenic rhesus macaques expressing human Na+ taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide for the study of chronic hepatitis B infection
Dr Lauren Rust (USA)

18:30 - 18:45: Deciphering immune responses to chronic HBV in a novel HLA haplotype matched immunocompetent humanized mouse model
Dr Priyanka Fernandes (France)

18:45 - 19:00: Direct quantification of HBx mRNA in human liver biopsies
Dr Aleksei Suslov (Switzerland)

SESSION II: VIRAL ENTRY AND EPISOME BIOGENESIS
Co-chairs: Koichi Watashi (Japan) & Barbara Testoni (France)

8:30 - 9:00: DNA repair concepts and cccDNA biogenesis
Pr Alexander Ploss (USA)

9:00 - 10:30: Oral Presentations: 

9:00 - 9:15: Diverse roles of farnesylated L-HDAg on establishment and maintenance of HDV replication
Dr Benno Zehnder (Germany)

9:15 - 9:30: Cryo-EM structure of NTCP and its implication in the HBV/HDV entry
Dr Koichi Watashi (Japan)

9:30 - 9:45: Deciphering the molecular mechanism of HBV rcDNA deproteination during cccDNA biosynthesis
Dr Hu Zhang (USA) – Virtual presentation

9:45 - 10:00: HIRA histone chaperone supports hepatitis B virus minichromosome establishment and transcriptional activity in infected hepatocytes
Dr Barbara Testoni (France)

10:00 - 10:15: A major HBV spliced RNA, SP1, encoding a novel core protein (HBcSP1), is involved in efficient viral infection
Dr Chen-Yen Chung (Taiwan) – Virtual presentation

10:15 - 10:30: Role of cellular compartments and viral capsid in Hepatitis B virus entry
Dr Megan McGinley (USA)

SESSION III: FROM THE VIRAL GENOME TO VIRAL PARTICLE EGRESS
Co-chairs: Patrick Soussan (France) & Aleem Siddiqui (USA)

11:00 - 11:30: Structural and regulatory functions of HBc - an update
Dr Jianming Hu (USA)

11:30 - 13:00: Oral Presentations

11:30 - 11:45: Initiation of HDV genome RNA synthesis
Dr Susannah Stephenson-Tsoris (USA)

11:45 - 12:00: SMC5/6 complex binds to specific regions of HBV cccDNA to suppress its transcription
Dr Qiong Zhao (USA) – Virtual presentation

12:00 - 12:15: Hepatitis B virus core protein is not required for cccDNA transcriptional regulation
Dr Yuchen Xia (China)

12:15 - 12:30: Predicted structure of the hepatitis B virus polymerase reveals an ancient conserved protein fold
Pr John Tavis (USA)

12:30 - 12:45: Structural insights into the role of N6-methyladenosine modified 5’epsilon in pgRNA packaging and strand transfer during reverse transcription
Dr Raphael Haslecker (USA)

12:45 - 13:00: A mature DHBV core encapsidates a spool of dsDNA
Dr Nora Gibes (USA) – Virtual presentation

SESSION IV: VIRAL - HOST CROSSTALK
Co-chairs: Jane McKeating (UK) & Yuchen Xia (China)

14:00 - 14:30: Hypoxia in viral hepatitis, applications in therapeutics?
Pr Jane McKeating (UK)

14:30 - 16:00: Oral Presentations

14:30 - 14:45: Autophagy receptor NDP52 detects hepatitis B virus infection and mediates an anti-viral response
Dr Yu Wei (China/France)

14:45 - 15:00: RXR agonists downregulate FOXM-1 mediated Kinesin motor KIF4 expression which controls HBV/HDV internalization through the regulation of surface NTCP localization in human hepatocytes
Dr Sameh A. Gad (Japan)

15:00 - 15:15: Characterization of Janus kinase JAK1 as an HDV-related host factor and antiviral target
Dr Margaux Heuschkel (France)

15:15 - 15:30: Stability of covalently closed circular DNA during mitosis of Hepatitis B Virus infected cells
Dr Henrik Zhang (Australia)

15:30 - 15:45: Senataxin restricts hepatitis B virus gene expression
Dr Andoni Gomez-Moreno (Spain)

15:45 - 16:00: The profile of HBV transcripts in liver fine-needle aspirate single-cell data reveals changes in transcriptional programs of both host and virus under antiviral treatment
Dr Adam J. Gehring (Canada)

KEYNOTE LECTURE 1
Introduced by David Durantel

16:30 - 14:30: Communalities in disease progression of viral hepatitis, NASH, ASH, and hepatocellular carcinoma?
Pr Mathias Heikenwalder, University of Heildelberg - DKFZ (Germany)

POSTER SESSION I & EXHIBITS

SESSION V: INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSES
Co-chairs: Sonja Buschow (Netherlands) & Luca Guidotti (Italy)

8:30 - 9:00: Distinctive features of liver-resident NK cells and ILC subsets
Dr Giuseppe Sciume (Italy)

9:00 - 10:30: Oral Presentations

9:00 - 9:15: Inhibition of HBV transcription by interferon stimulated gene 12 (ISG12)
Dr Xiaoyang Yu (USA) – Virtual presentation

9:15 - 9:30: PML Inhibits HBV cccDNA activity through SMC5/6-dependent sumoylation
Dr James Ahodantin (USA)

9:30 - 9:45: Natural Killer cell repertoire and functional activity in HIV/HBV co-infection and implications for therapy
Dr Kelly Da Costa (UK)

9:45 - 10:00: Functional cure in chronic hepatitis B is associated with altered intra-hepatic natural killer cell phenotype with high expression of activation receptors
Dr Sriram Narayanan (Singapore) – Virtual presentation

10:00 - 10:15: Earliest Indicators of HBV-Associated Flares are Only Detectable Within the Liver
Dr Conan Chua (Canada)

10:15 - 10:30: Pathogenesis of Pregnancy-Related Increases in Hepatitis B Disease Activity
Dr Keisuke Fukutomi (USA)

SESSION VI: ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSES
Co-chairs: Mala Maini (UK) & Nina Le Bert (Singapore)

11:00 - 11:30: T Cell immunometabolism
Dr Paola Fisicaro (Italy)

11:30 - 13:00: Oral Presentations 

11:30 - 11:45: Generation and characterization of an HBsAg-specific B cell receptor (BCR) transgenic mouse
Dr Cristian Beccaria (Italy)

11:45-12:00: Differential changes in global and antigen-specific B cell frequencies and function associate with the outcome of HBV nucleos(t)ide analog treatment withdrawal
Dr Sabela Lens (UK)

12:00 - 12:15: OX40 and 4-1BB stimulation reinvigorates intrahepatically-primed dysfunctional HBV-specific CD8+ T cells in mice
Dr Francesco Andreata (Italy)

12:15 - 12:30: Bacterial LPS drives myeloid instruction of tissueresident CD8+T-cells with anti-viral and anti-tumour potential
Dr Laura Pallett (UK) – Virtual presentation

12:30 - 12:45: Enolase represents a metabolic checkpoint controlling the differential exhaustion of virusspecific CD8 T cells in HBV and HCV
Dr Frances Winkler (Germany)

12:45 - 13:00: Diverging mechanisms of HBV-specific CD8+ T-cell dysfunction in chronic infection
Dr Kathrin Heim (Germany)

SESSION VII: VIRAL PATHOGENESIS, INTEGRATION AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA
Co-chairs: Massimo Levrero (France) & Michael Bouchard (USA)

16:30 - 17:00: Genetics of HCC
Pr Jessica Zucman-Rossi (France)

17:00 - 18:30: Oral Presentations

17:00 - 17:15: HBV infection alters host extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) profile in human hepatocytes
Dr Andrea Jurado (USA)

17:15 - 17:30: Dual role of neddylation for transcription of hepatitis B virus RNAs from cccDNA and production of viral surface antigen from integrants
Dr Bingqian Qu (Germany)

17:30 - 17:45: HBV DNA integration and three-dimensional genome organization in hepatocellular carcinoma
Dr Joao Diogo Dias (France)

17:45 - 18:00: Hepatitis B virus DNA integration and liver cancer – who’s in the driver seat?
Dr Thomas Tu (Australia)

18:00 - 18:15: Spontaneous development of HCC in mice expressing all HBV transcripts proves an oncogenic effect of HBx and is STAT3-dependent
Dr Svenja Schuehle (Germany)

18:15 - 18:30: Multiplex ddPCR assay reveals that integrated hepatitis B virus DNA maintains surface antigen production during antivirals
Dr Tanner Grudda (USA)

UPDATES BY THE HEPATITIS B FOUNDATION (HBF, USA)
Dr. Chari Cohen

UPDATES ON ICE-HBV
ICE-HBV representative

SESSION VIII: PRECLINICAL TARGETS & THERAPIES FOR CHB AND CHD
Co-chairs: Ulrike Protzer (Germany) & Jake Liang (USA)

8:30 – 9:00: What makes a host factor a good target for HTA development and antiviral therapies
Dr Eloi Verrier (France)

9:00 – 10:45: Oral Presentations

9:00 – 9:15: HBV RNaseH inhibitors can decrease capsid accumulation and may induce an interferon response in HBV replicating cells
Dr Daniel Bradley (USA)

9:15 – 9:30: The TLR8 agonist Selgantolimod modulates Kupffer cell differentiation status and indirectly impairs HBV entry into hepatocytes via an IL-6-dependent mechanism
Dr Armando Andres Roca Suarez (France)

9:30 – 9:45: Novel Ultra-Potent Capsid Assembly Modulators In A Mouse Model Of Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Pr Luca Guidotti (Italy)

9:45 – 10:00: Combination treatment with AB-101, a small-molecule PD-L1 Inhibitor, and an HBV-targeting GalNAc-siRNA increases HBV-specific immune responses in a chronic Hepatitis B infection mouse model
Dr Emily Thi (USA)

10:00 – 10:15: Bepirovirsen activates multiple innate immune cell types and induces TLR8-dependent cytokine responses
Dr Jared Delahaye (USA)

10:15 – 10:30: HBs-directed T cell engager antibodies foster efficient recruitment of T cells and lead to strong reduction of HBV infection in livers of humanized mice
Dr Annika Volmari (Germany)

10:30 – 10:45: Strong decline of intrahepatic HDV markers and signs of liver inflammation after 48 weeks of treatment with Bulevirtide in chronic hepatitis D patients: Combined intrahepatic results from the clinical trials MYR203 and MYR301
Dr Lena Allweiss (Germany)

KEYNOTE LECTURE 2
Introduced by Hélène Strick-Marchand

11:15 – 12:15: Control of viral reservoirs: insights from nonhuman primate models
Pr Michaela Müller-Trutwin, Institut Pasteur (France)

HBF YOUNG FELLOW NETWORKING MEETING
Odeon Room

SESSION IX: GENOTYPES, CO-EVOLUTION, CO-INFECTIONS
Co-chairs: Anna Kramvis (South Africa) & Peter Revill (Australia)

13:30 – 14:00: Updates on HDV basic science research
Dr. Julie Lucifora, Inserm (France)

14:00 - 15:30: Oral Presentations 

14:00 – 14:15: HBV genotypic differences in primary hepatocytes and humanized mice
Dr Lefteris Michailidis (USA)

14:15 – 14:30: Molecular clones of genetically distinct hepatitis B virus genotypes reveal distinct host and drug treatment responses
Dr Yongzhen Liu (USA) – Virtual presentation

14:30 – 14:45: Effects of HDV-LHDAg expression and prenylation on replication of HDV and delta-like agents
Dr Gnimah Eva Gnouamozi (Germany)

14:45 – 15:00: HDV-mediated inhibition of HBV in a superinfection mouse model: the role of type I Interferon
Dr Beatriz Pacin Ruiz (Spain)

15:00 – 15:15: Comprehensive analysis of the different phases of chronic Hepatitis B infection
Dr Michael Basic (Germany)

SYMPOSIUM ON DRUG DISCOVERY
Co-chairs: Raymond Schinazi (USA) & Fabien Zoulim (France)

15:45 - 18:45: Oral Presentations

15:45 - 16:15: Antiviral Drug Discovery in an Academic Setting
Pr Johan Neyts, Rega Institute (Belgium)

16:15 – 16:45: Claudin-1: from virus-host interactions to treatment of fibrosis and cancer
Pr Thomas Baumert, Universite de Strasbourg (France)

16:45 – 17:15: Restoring or replacing the immune response to HBV
Pr Mala Maini, UCL London (UK)

17:15 – 17:45: Combination therapies against HBV - a clinician perspective
Pr Harry Janssen, Erasmus Medical Center (Netherlands)

17:45 – 18:15: Stop-Nuc: a stand alone strategy or possibility to combine?
Pr Maurizia Brunetto, University of Pisa (Italy)

18:15 – 18:45: Roundtable with all speakers
Animated by Raymond Schinazi & Fabien Zoulim

HBV COMMUNITY FORUM, ORGANIZED BY:
Hepatitis B Foundation and ICE-HBV

7:30 - 8:00: NETWORKING BREAKFAST

8:00 - 9:30: Oral Presentations 

8:00 – 8:05: Welcome Remarks
Fabien Zoulim

8:05 – 8:20: Critical gaps in hepatitis B prevention, screening, care and treatment in the EU
Tarik Asselah, Marc Bourliere & Philippa Matthews

8:20 – 8:35: The latest in hepatitis B cure research
John Tavis, Thomas Tu

8:35 – 8:45: Q&A Discussion

8:45 – 9:15: Patient panel session: the lived experience of hepatitis B

9:15 – 9:25: Patient Panel Q&A

9:25 – 9:30: Closing Remarks
Chari Cohen