Fig. 2.

The schematic shows the HBV replication cycle in a single cell. HBV enters the hepatocyte from outside of the cell through NTCP, denoted here as variable R, and the genome (cccDNA) is transferred to the nucleus, labeled as C. By the transcription of cccDNA, protein (p36) and pre-genomic RNA (pgRNA) are produced. These are cytoplasmic pgRNA and are packaged with polymerase and envelope proteins into nucleocapsids, and by the reverse transcription, RNA is converted into DNA. In this process, first single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), labeled S, and then double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), denoted D, are produced. Depending upon the level of p36 proteins in the cytoplasm, labeled P, dsDNA will either return to the nucleus or will be released as complete infective HBV virions labeled V outside of the cell to infect other hepatocytes in the liver.