{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T21:02:09Z","timestamp":1792011729565,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":83,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]],"date-time":"2025-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750377600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010751","name":"Fondecyt Regular","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1221033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1221033"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010751","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoX"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) imposes a significant burden on global public health. Exposure to aflatoxins, potent mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus fungi contaminating staple foods, and chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are major etiological factors, especially where they co-exist. This review examines the critical role of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway as a primary target and convergence point for the carcinogenic actions of aflatoxins and HBV. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a Group 1 carcinogen, exerts significant genotoxicity, characteristically inducing a specific hotspot mutation (R249S) in the TP53 gene via DNA adduct formation, thereby compromising p53\u2019s critical tumor suppressor functions. This R249S mutation is considered a molecular fingerprint of aflatoxin exposure. Concurrently, the HBV X protein (HBx) functionally inactivates wild-type p53 through direct binding and by promoting its degradation. The synergistic disruption of the p53 pathway, driven by AFB1-induced mutation and amplified by HBV-mediated functional inhibition, significantly enhances the risk of HCC development. This review addresses how aflatoxin exposure alters key aspects of p53 and how this damage interacts with HBV-mediated p53 suppression, providing crucial insights into hepatocarcinogenesis. The knowledge synthesized here underscores the importance of mitigating aflatoxin exposure alongside HBV control for effective HCC prevention and treatment strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jox15040096","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]],"date-time":"2025-06-20T06:10:27Z","timestamp":1750399827000},"page":"96","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Cooperation Between Aflatoxin-Induced p53 Aberrations and Hepatitis B Virus in Hepatocellular Carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Carolina","family":"Moreno-Le\u00f3n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Oncovirolog\u00eda, Departamento de Ciencias Biom\u00e9dicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Tarapac\u00e1, Arica 1000000, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1557-0490","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"Aguayo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Oncovirolog\u00eda, Departamento de Ciencias Biom\u00e9dicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Tarapac\u00e1, Arica 1000000, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"778","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.33588","article-title":"Cancer statistics for the year 2020: An overview","volume":"149","author":"Ferlay","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. 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