The template of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcription, the covalently closed circular DNA
(cccDNA), plays a key role in the life-cycle of the virus and permits the persistence of
infection. Novel molecular techniques have opened new possibilities to investigate the
organization and the activity of the cccDNA minichromosome in vivo, and recent advances
have started to shed light on the complexity of the mechanisms controlling cccDNA function.
Nuclear cccDNA accumulates in hepatocyte nuclei as a stable minichromosome organized …