Key mutations in the C-terminus of the HBV surface glycoprotein correlate with lower HBsAg levels <i>in vivo</i> , hinder HBsAg secretion <i>in vitro</i> and reduce HBsAg structural stability in the setting of HBeAg-negative chronic HBV genotype-D infection
Romina Salpini, A. Battisti, Lorenzo Piermatteo, Luca Carioti, Olympia E. Anastasiou, Upkar S. Gill, Domenico Di Carlo, Luna Colagrossi, Leonardo Duca, Ada Bertoli, Katia Yu La Rosa, Lavinia Fabeni, Alessandra Iuvara, Vincenzo Malagnino, Carlotta Cerva, Miriam Lichtner, Claudio Maria Mastroianni, G.M. De Sanctis, M. Paoloni, Massimo Marignani, C. Pasquazzi, N. Iapadre, Giustino Parruti, Jacopo Vecchiet, Loredana Sarmati, Massimo Andreoni, M. Angélico, Sandro Grelli, Patrick Kennedy, Jens Verheyen, Stefano Aquaro, Francesca Ceccherini‐Silberstein, Carlo Federico Perno, Valentina Svicher
Abstract
and affect its structural stability, supporting their detrimental role on HBsAg-secretion. In this light, genotypic-testing can be a valuable tool to optimize the clinical interpretation of HBsAg in genotype-D and to provide information on HBV-pathogenicity and disease-progression.