University of Pittsburgh

Haitao Guo, PhD

Professor





	
	


			

		Dr. Haitao Guo	
		

		

	
Contact

    		

		guoh4@upmc.edu	
		

		
			

		412-623-5969	
		

		
	
	
	    

    
    
   
    
   
    
    		

		
G.27C Hillman Cancer Center
5117 Centre Avenue
	
		

	    
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
    
	
	
	
			

		Pittsburgh, PA 15213	
		

		
		
	



	
Education
	
	

	
PhD in Virology, Wuhan University (China), 2001
BS in Virology, Wuhan University (China), 1996
        

              
   
  
 
 	
Research Summary
	
	

	
My research is focused on the viral pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and antiviral discovery. HBV is the etiologic agent of viral hepatitis B, a disease affecting approximately 350 million people worldwide who suffer the high risk of liver failure, cirrhosis and liver cancer. My laboratory aims at understanding the molecular mechanisms of HBV DNA replication and morphogenesis, with special focus on the biosynthesis and regulation of HBV covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA, which is the persistent form of HBV infection, and is the culprit for the failure of current antiviral therapies. Making use of the HBV cccDNA reporter cell line systems recently established by us, we are screening small molecule compound libraries for cccDNA inhibitors in a high throughput fashion, and two identified cccDNA formation inhibitors are currently under preclinical development. In addition, we are studying the innate immunity and oncogenic signaling pathways that regulate HBV replication, as well as identification and characterization of host restriction factors that inhibit HBV infection and propagation in human hepatocytes. We are also investigating the molecular mechanisms of HBV-induced liver cancer and finding therapeutic targets. 
Click here for a full list of publications
	
	




  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 
 
   
   
















        





















	
Publications
	
	

	
Mitra B, Wang J, Kim E, Mao R, Dong M, Liu Y, Zhang J and Guo H. 2019. Hepatitis B Virus Precore Protein p22 Inhibits Interferon-alpha Signaling by Blocking STAT Nuclear Translocation. J of Virol. 93: e00196-19. |  View Abstract
Yang F, Yu X, Zhou C, Mao R, Zhu M, Ma Z, Mitra B, Zhao G, Huang Y, Guo H, Wang B and Zhang J. 2019. Hepatitis B e antigen induces the expansion of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells to dampen T-cell function in chronic hepatitis B virus infection. PLoS Path. 15: e1007690. |  View Abstract
Zhang Y, Zhang H, Zhang J, Zhang J and Guo H. 2019. Naturally Occurring Core Protein Mutations Compensate for the Reduced Replication Fitness of a Lamivudine-Resistant HBV Isolate. Antiviral Res. 165: 47-54. |  View Abstract
Long Q, Yan R, Hu J, Cai D, Mitra B, Kim E, Marchetti A, Zhang H, Wang S, Liu Y, Huang A and Guo H. 2017. The Role of Host DNA ligases in Hepadnavirus Covalently Closed Circular DNA Formation. PLoS Path. 13: e1006784. |  View Abstract
Liu Y, Nie H, Mao R, Mitra B, Cai D, Yan R, Guo JT, Block TM, Mechti N and Guo H. 2017. Interferon-inducible Ribonuclease ISG20 Inhibits Hepatitis B Virus Replication through Directly Binding to the epsilon Stem-loop Structure of Viral RNA. PLoS Path. 13: e1006296. |  View Abstract