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Hepatitis B Virus (HBV): The Life-cycle and Assembly of a Complex Virus

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Supramolecular Structure and Function 9

The overall structure of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is briefly described, followed by a discussion of its infectious life-cycle. This starts with entry into the cell, transport of the partially-double stranded viral DNA to the nucleus, its uncoating and “repair” by cellular polymerases to produce the covalently-closed circular DNA. Transcription and translation of the viral genes, by cellular factors, is discussed, together with the roles of the viral proteins and full-length “pre-genomic” RNA, and the assembly of the latter, together with the viral polymerase, into immature cores. Subsequent synthesis of the viral DNA, which precedes and causes a structural transition, from the immature to the mature core, is described. The structures of both the immature and mature core are discussed, together with a hypothesis of how this transition is brought about, and how the maturation is necessary for interaction with the surface protein, to allow budding and production of further infectious virions.

Keywords: HBV, Hepatitis B virus, Viral cores, Structure, Virus assembly

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, CB2 2QH, Cambridge, UK

    P. Jonathan G. Butler

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  1. P. Jonathan G. Butler
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  1. Rudjer Boškovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia

    Greta Pifat-Mrzljak

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Butler, P.J.G. (2007). Hepatitis B Virus (HBV): The Life-cycle and Assembly of a Complex Virus. In: Pifat-Mrzljak, G. (eds) Supramolecular Structure and Function 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6466-1_8

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