title: Asymmetric replication of hepatitis B virus DNA in human liver: demonstration of cytoplasmic minus-strand DNA by blot analyses and in situ hybridization.
abstract: In situ and blot hybridization techniques have been used with strand- and region-specific probes to characterize the forms of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in the liver of a patient with chronic active hepatitis B. The hepatocytes contain a heterogeneous population of rapidly migrating DNA species in the 0.5-1.4 kb position that are localized predominantly in the cytoplasm and are of minus-strand polarity. The findings indicate that the replication is asymmetric, with separate pathways for plus- and minus-strand synthesis of HBV DNA; that viral DNA synthesis is initiated at a site near the nick in the minus strand of virion DNA; and that actively replicating forms of HBV DNA can be identified at the cellular level by in situ hybridization.
mesh_terms: D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000382:microbiology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004279:DNA, Viral