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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2013; 19(41): 6995-7023
Published online Nov 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i41.6995
Published online Nov 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i41.6995
Quasispecies structure, cornerstone of hepatitis B virus infection: Mass sequencing approach
Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Maria Buti, David Tabernero, Maria Homs, Network Medical Research Center, Hepatic and Digestive Diseases (CIBERehd), Institute of Health Carlos III, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, David Tabernero, Maria Homs, Department of Biochemistry, Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Maria Buti, Department of Hepatology, Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to writing the manuscript.
Supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, grant PI12/1893, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Instituto Carlos III of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs
Correspondence to: Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, PhD, Proteins, Hepatitis and Molecular Genetics Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Paseo Vall d’Hebron 19-129, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. frarodri@vhebron.net
Telephone: +34-93-274-6991 Fax: +34-93-274-6831
Received: June 28, 2013
Revised: August 23, 2013
Accepted: September 15, 2013
Published online: November 7, 2013
Revised: August 23, 2013
Accepted: September 15, 2013
Published online: November 7, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: We provide an update of hepatitis B virus (HBV) virology, focusing on its complex replication cycle which generates high genetic variability, which led HBV infection to evolve as viral quasispecies, complex distributions of variant populations that are closely related but not identical. We also discuss the clinical and virological implications of this population structure and the application of different next-generation sequencing approaches, which enable analysis of thousands of clonally amplified regions, to study these heterogeneous viral populations.