Cutting edges in the hepatitis B virus genome: How RNA splicing is involved in modulating virus ultrastructure to promote infection

The DNA genome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicates via reverse transcription of a pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) template inside nucleocapsid particles within the cytosol of the infected cell. Apart from its function as replication intermediate, pgRNA has been shown in numerous studies to be subject to splicing leading to shortened viral RNA species (reviewed in 1). So far, five splice donor (SD) and six acceptor (SA) sites have been experimentally validated. The combinatorial utilization of these “cutting edges” in the pgRNA leads to 20 variants of single or multiple spliced derivatives.
Source: Journal of Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research