Comment on “Specific and nonhepatotoxic degradation of nuclear hepatitis B virus cccDNA”
Abstract
Lucifora et al. (Research Articles, 14 March 2014, p. 1221) report that the hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcriptional template, a long-lived covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) molecule, is degraded noncytolytically by agents that up-regulate APOBEC3A and 3B. If these results can be independently confirmed, they would represent a critical first step toward development of a cure for the 400 million patients who are chronically infected by HBV.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- June 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1254082
- Bibcode:
- 2014Sci...344.1237C
- Keywords:
-
- TECH COMMENT, VIROLOGY, Genetics, Virology, Molecular-Biology