title: New perspectives on the hepatitis B virus life cycle in the human liver.
abstract: The central role of the transcriptional template of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), has been difficult to study in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. In this issue of the JCI, Zhang and colleagues reveal a mosaic distribution of viral antigens and nucleic acids and a mismatch between HBV cccDNA, RNA, and expression of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). These unusual patterns varied over the natural history of CHB, prompting the authors to propose a new three-stage model of the HBV life cycle at the single-cell level.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Revill
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Locarnini
mesh_terms: D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans