Figure 3.

Schematic representation of the HBV life cycle. HBV attaches to the host hepatocyte cell membrane through its envelope proteins. When the viral membrane fuses with the cell membrane, it will result in releasing the viral genome into the cell cytoplasm. After the viral genome reaches the nucleus, the viral polymerase enzyme will convert the partially double-stranded DNA genome into cccDNA. This is followed by transcription and nuclear export of all viral mRNA to the cytoplasm for translation. The surface protein enveloping process occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum and then assembled in the cytoplasm. These proteins are transported to the post-endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi compartments for the budding of the nucleocapsid. The different viral components will assemble into new virions that will be released out of the host and infect new hepatocyte.