Extracellular HBV RNA contains pgRNA and spliced RNA variants. (A) Northern blot analysis of intracellular and extracellular HBV RNA from uninfected and infected HepaRG cells treated with DMSO, LMV, or BAY 41-4109. (B) Northern blot analysis of HBV RNA from representative patient samples infected with genotype A, B, C, or D HBV. (C) Location of spliced introns relative to the HBV genome (solid line). The arrows at the top indicate the open reading frames of HBV. Dotted lines below indicate spliced introns from sequenced clones generated using the supernatants of infected HepaRG cells or patient serum. The spliced variant (Sp) numbering is according to previous publications (29, 30).