Hepatitis B virus therapy: What’s the future holding for us?

Figure 1 Hepatitis B virus life cycle along with inhibitors targeting the various stages of the hepatitis B virus lifecycle (Adapted from Grimm et al[6] 2011). Following attachment of virus to the receptors, cell entry and release of nucleocapsid, nuclear import of virus to nucleus, transcription and translation leads to the synthesis of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), envelopment of nucleocapsid within endoplasmic reticulum, formation of multivesicular bodies and finally secretion of subviral and virion particles. Moreover red bar lines shows the inhibitors targeting various stages of the virus life cycle such as: entry inhibitors, inhibition of cccDNA formation, and inhibition of assembly, polymerase inhibition and genetic editing and immunomodulation targeting the cell surface receptors. ISG: Immune serum globulin.