Figure 1

Target site and vector information. (A) Location of RNAi target sites. Downward arrows indicate the location of RNAi target sites within the four HBV transcripts. The 3.5-kb transcript is the pregenomic RNA that serves as the template for HBV viral DNA replication. The HBV open reading frames are shown below aligned with the HBV mRNAs. Pol: polymerase; Core: HBcAg; S1: large pre-surface antigen; S2: middle pre-surface antigen; S: HBsAg; X: X gene. (B) The construction schematic of lentiviral vector expressing shRNAs. The shRNA expression cassette, including the U6 pol III promoter, the sense and antisense sequence of the shRNA separated by a 8-base loop, and a terminator composed of six thymidines is inserted directly upstream of the CMV promoter of EGFP in the pWPT-GFP vector. Arrows indicate the orientation of transcription for a given gene. The putative HBVshRNA-1 and HBVshRNA-2 structures are shown at the bottom.