title: Hepatitis B virus mutants.
abstract: During hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, selection and takeover of mutant viruses are frequent events driven by both humoral and cellular host-immune response and antiviral therapy. Therefore, dynamic studies of the variations of viral mutants over time within the overall viral population in relation with the host-virus interactions are extremely important to better understand the biological and pathogenic role of each mutant. With these premises, we review the more frequent mutations detected in each of the 4 open reading frames of HBV. A detailed analysis of the pathobiologic implications of pre-C region mutations which suppress the expression of the hepatitis B 'e' antigen, will be presented, as these mutations induce a specific change in virus biology and the variations of the ratio between wild-type and mutant correlate with significant events in host-virus interactions.
authors.affiliation: UO Gastroenterologia ed Epatologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Pisana, Spedali Riuniti di Santa Chiara, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Brunetto
authors.forename: U A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonino
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000821:virology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000821:virology; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins
chemical_list: D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein