It was a normal evening.
Li Wenhui, Investigator at the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, and Professor at the Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, checked his email as he usually does after a whole day’s research work. Something unusual caught his attention.
It was an email from the Hepatitis B Foundation, a leading non-profit organization based in the United States that is solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B. The email read: Board of Directors Advisors (of Hepatitis B Foundation) and past recipients of the Award have selected you to be the recipient of the 2021 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize...
“My first reaction was whether I was senior enough to win this award?” Li said, remembering the moment he saw the email.
Issued by the Hepatitis B Foundation, the Baruch S. Blumberg Prize is named after Baruch S. Blumberg, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1976 for discovering the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and is considered as the “Nobel Prize for HBV research". Its previous honorees include Thomas Starzl, the 2012 Lasker Award for Clinical Science recipient, and Harvey J. Alter, the 2020 Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine.
Given Li’s modesty, this is actually a well-deserved recognition for his discovery of the HBV receptor on hepatocytes, a breakthrough that will have a major influence on the future of therapeutics for people living with chronic HBV infections.
Left Harvard to find the cure for HBV
Back in 2003, when the world was facing the threat of the SARS virus, Li was a postdoc fellow at Harvard Medical School. After working around the clock for four months, he was the first to discover the functional receptor for the SARS coronavirus.
Following his successful research work at Harvard, Li decided to return to China in 2007.
"My early internship experience in Chinese hospitals had given me the opportunity to empathize with the plight of HBV patients. China has a substantial number of HBV carriers. Due to the sophisticated nature of the virus, there is currently no complete cure. Therefore, I decided to come back to China and commit myself to finding the receptor of HBV, in a fervent hope of advancing the elimination of this disease," said Li Wenhui.
Aiming at solving the bottleneck problem
The receptor for HBV can be regarded as the “gate” for the virus to invade human cells, the finding of which can offer an in-depth understanding of the HBV’s infection mechanism, thus helping with the development of effective therapeutic drugs. Due to the particularity of HBV, many leading scientists worldwide have fallen short of identifying its receptor since the discovery of the virus in 1965. But Li was willing to take on the challenge.
"At that time, there were topics that were interesting, relatively simple and easier to have research papers published on, but I determined to research the HBV receptor. It is the hardest yet most urgent challenge in this field. I like to take on the intellectual challenge, and would prefer to spend my time to solve bottleneck problems in the field," said Li Wenhui.
More important than publishing papers
To learn from the experience of previous research, Li led his team to extensively review relevant papers published worldwide and conducted repeated experiments of previous studies. Then, he and his team started the arduous process of experimentation.
Four years have passed, but Li’s team still hasn't solved the critical problem after repeated attempts. His students even raised a critical doubt that could possibly invalidate their years of hard work – what if an HBV receptor just didn’t exist?
Li was under great pressure too. Yet, the fear of failure did not shake his determination to conquer this obstacle. He constantly looked for solutions and encouraged his students.
“I keep telling my students that the essence of being a scientist is to remain curious, respect nature, and adhere to our true ambition. Ultimately, achieving new academic frontiers is way more valuable than publications，”said Li Wenhui.
Finally, on the evening of 7th January 2012, the team found a protein in HBV that was suspected to be the receptor. After an intense process of experimentation that lasted till the early morning of January 11th, it was preliminarily proved that this protein was likely to be the receptor of HBV that had eluded Li and countless scientists for many years. To confirm the experiment’s results, Li and his team continued the research in the laboratory during the Spring Festival that year. Finally, by early February, they confirmed that they had discovered the functional receptor of HBV: Sodium Taurocholate Co-transporting Polypeptide (NTCP).
Li and his team continued researching day and night to add new data and improve the reliability of their findings. They finally published the results to the world in November 2012.
Embarking on the next adventure with a new tool
The solid research work by Li and his team won recognition from the global academic field.
After the discovery of the HBV receptor, the world gained a deeper understanding of the hepatitis B infections and acquired a new tool to conquer the disease. Many internationally renowned hepatitis B research institutions and pharmaceutical companies are using his discovery to carry out drug development. Li is also devoting himself to research and develop new drugs and therapies for HBV patients.
"There is still a long way until we can cure chronic hepatitis B infections. With the new tool that I and my team discovered, the receptor of the HBV, I hope we can somehow accelerate this course. I will keep devoting myself to novel therapeutics, hoping that we can help diminish the pain of chronic hepatitis patients one day," said Li Wenhui.
Reporters: Lin Lu, Soon Yu
Editors: Cassandra Ler, John Olbrich
Photo: Li Pai
