Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41779781›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

EIF4H and YBX1 are essential host factors for hepatitis E virus replication and pathogenesis.

Xiaohui Ju, Lin Dong, Tianxu Liu, Fan Zhang, Xuege Sun, Michael P Schwoerer, Wenlin Ren, Mingli Gong, Alexander Ploss, Wei Qin and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Xiaohui Ju *Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9552-0222
Lin Dong *Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Tianxu Liu *Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China.
Fan Zhang *Department of Microbial Sciences in Health, Cleveland Clinic Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195.
Xuege SunSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Michael P SchwoererDepartment of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.
Wenlin RenCenter for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Mingli GongCenter for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Alexander PlossDepartment of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.ORCID 0000-0001-9322-7252
Wei QinSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Xianfang WuDepartment of Microbial Sciences in Health, Cleveland Clinic Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195.ORCID 0000-0002-2995-935X
Lin WangDepartment of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1555-9985
Qiang DingCenter for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.ORCID 0000-0002-6226-869X

Funding

PREDOCTORAL TRAINING PROGRAM IN GENETICST32GM007388 · NIGMS · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · PI CRISTEA, ILEANA M. · 1985 to 2022
$27.4M
High Meadows Environmental Institute Not applicableMOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 82272302MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 82341084MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 82522053National Key Research and Development Plan of China 2023YFC2306900NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM007388SXMU-Tsinghua Collaborative Innovation Center for Frontier Medicine Not applicableTsinghua University Dushi Program 20251080029
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide, responsible for approximately 20 million infections annually. Despite the availability of a vaccine in China, no direct-acting antivirals are approved, and host factors required for HEV replication remain poorly defined. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen in a replicon system, we identified Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4H (EIF4H) and Y-Box Binding Protein 1 (YBX1) as essential host factors for HEV replication and pathogenesis. Knockout of either factor markedly impaired replication of HEV genotypes 1, 3, and 4, as well as HEV infection and production in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells, while leaving SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and Zika virus unaffected, underscoring their HEV-specific roles. Mechanistically, EIF4H interacts with ORF1 via its methyltransferase-Y-papain-like protease region, and EIF4H deficiency alters the composition of the ORF1-associated replication complex. By contrast, YBX1 is dispensable for ORF1 translation and RNA binding but is specifically required for ORF1 proteolytic processing, a prerequisite for assembling a functional replication machinery. EIF4H knockout rats and liver-specific YBX1 knockout rats were largely resistant to rat HEV-C1 infection, showing profound reductions in viral shedding, suppressed hepatic and intestinal viral loads, and protection from liver pathology. Together, our findings establish EIF4H and YBX1 as essential host factors for HEV infection and pathogenesis and reveal potential targets for antiviral intervention.

Indexed as

Eukaryotic Initiation FactorsHepatitis EHepatitis E virusVirus ReplicationY-Box-Binding Protein 1AnimalsCRISPR-Cas SystemsHost-Pathogen InteractionsHumansEukaryotic Initiation FactorsY-Box-Binding Protein 1YBX1 protein, humanCRISPR/Cas9 screeningEIF4HHEVORF1YBX1

Identifiers

PMID41779781
PMCPMC12974410

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.