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. 2009 Sep 1;1(2):185–209. doi: 10.3390/v1020185

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Schematic structure of the HBV particle and subviral particles. HBV is an enveloped virus with a diameter of about 42 nm (42 nm particle). The envelope is formed by the three viral surface proteins LHBs, MHBs and SHBs that surround the viral nucleocapsid. The core protein (HBcAg) forms the nucleocapsid that harbors the partially double-stranded circular DNA genome that is covalently linked to the viral polymerase. In the serum of HBV-positive patients, large amounts of non-infectious subviral particles in the form of filaments or spheres (20nm particles) are found; these are composed of the viral surface proteins, but lack the viral nucleic acid.