Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Molecular Model Discovery Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3122, Australia.
Drug Discov Today. 2015 May;20(5):548-61. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2015.01.008. Epub 2015 Jan 24.
Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) often leads to the development of liver cancer and cirrhosis, creating immense sociological, clinical and economic burdens worldwide. Although current anti-HBV medications manage to control the disease progression and help restore normal liver functions, they often fail to eliminate the virus completely. A major reason for this failure is the presence of a stable viral genome in the hepatocyte nucleus: the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Targeting HBV cccDNA is a promising approach that could lead to a complete cure. Here, we review various research approaches that are directed toward eliminating HBV cccDNA. This is a brief, yet comprehensive, summary of current state-of-the-art developments in this emerging area of interest.
慢性乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 感染常导致肝癌和肝硬化的发生，给全球带来了巨大的社会、临床和经济负担。虽然目前的抗 HBV 药物能够控制疾病进展并帮助恢复正常的肝功能，但它们往往无法完全清除病毒。这种失败的一个主要原因是肝细胞核中存在稳定的病毒基因组：共价闭合环状 DNA (cccDNA)。针对 HBV cccDNA 是一种很有前途的方法，可以实现完全治愈。在这里，我们综述了各种旨在消除 HBV cccDNA 的研究方法。这是对该新兴研究领域当前最新进展的简要而全面的总结。
