The hepatitis-B viruses: molecular biology and recent tissue culture systems.

In this report we summarize what is known about the molecular biology of the hepatitis-B viruses. In the first part we describe the general properties of these viruses, their structure and their replication strategy. In the second part we discuss the most recent attempts at the establishment of tissue culture systems allowing the study of the virus/host cell interactions in vitro. In addition we present experimental data from our laboratory in which we show that new synthesis of viral proteins can be studied in vitro either by biochemical analysis of already infected cells or after experimental infection.