Post-Transcriptional Modification and Processing of Hepatitis B Virus in Different Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines
The post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of hepatitis B virus (HBV), particularly its epitranscriptomic modifications, remain poorly characterized. This study employed Nanopore direct RNA sequencing to profile the HBV transcriptome in two hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (PLC/PRF/5 and Huh7). We identified 34 splice variants with cell-specific expression patterns (including 14 novel variants), discovered 30 potential RNA modification sites (28 of which were shared between both cell lines), and revealed significant differences in poly(A) tail length between cell lines. Comprehensive analysis elucidated the HBV post-transcriptional processing regulatory network in both hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, providing theoretical support for selecting HBV research models and offering new insights for developing antiviral strategies targeting the viral epigenome.