FIG 3.

Effect of tazarotene on cccDNA levels, HBV RNA expression, and HBV promoter activation. (A) PHH cells infected with HBV were treated with tazarotene for 9 days. The Hirt DNA was extracted and analyzed by Southern blot. (B) The RNAs were extracted for determination of the levels of total HBV RNA and pregenomic/precore mRNA. (C) The ratio of precore RNA/pgRNA to cccDNA were calculated. (D) Northern blot analysis of 1 μg of RNA extracted from HBV-infected PHH cells treated with tazarotene for 6 days. (E) HBV transcript-level quantification by nucleotide mapping in the presence or absence of tazarotene after 8 h (top) and 48 h (bottom) of treatment was analyzed by RNA sequencing. Each of the HBV RNA transcripts localized to the HBV genome is shown. (F) Huh7 cells transfected with the indicated reporter plasmids were mock treated or treated with the indicated dose of tazarotene. The cells were extracted for luciferase analysis 48 h posttreatment. (G) HepG2.215 cells were treated with tazarotene for 5 days. The HBsAg and HBeAg in the culture supernatant were then measured. Data were analyzed using Student’s t test and are shown as the mean ± SD (n = 3). **, P < 0.01; *, P < 0.05.