Inhibitory effects of crude extracts from some edible Thai plants against replication of hepatitis B virus and human liver cancer cells.

Background: Edible plants such as Cratoxylum formosum (Jack) Dyer, Curcumin longa Lin, Momordica charantia Lin and Moringa oleifera Lam have long been believed in Thai culture to relieve ulcers and the symptoms of liver disease. However, little is known about their anti-liver cancer properties and antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV). The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-liver cancer and anti-HBV activities of crude extracts from these edible plants on human liver cancer cells.

Effects of HBV Genetic Variability on RNAi Strategies.

RNAi strategies present promising antiviral strategies against HBV. RNAi strategies require base pairing between short RNAi effectors and targets in the HBV pregenome or other RNAs. Natural variation in HBV genotypes, quasispecies variation, or mutations selected by the RNAi strategy could potentially make these strategies less effective.

Identification of an effective siRNA target site and functional regulatory elements, within the hepatitis B virus posttranscriptional regulatory element.

Background: Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is major public health concern. The limitations of available antiviral drugs require development of novel approaches to inhibit HBV replication. This study was conducted to identify functional elements and new siRNA target sites within the highly conserved regions of the 533 base post-transcriptional regulatory element (PRE) of HBV RNAs.

Detection and discrimination of WU/KI polyomaviruses by real-time PCR with melting curve analysis.

WU and KI polyomaviruses are novel viruses of the Polyomaviridae family, which have been identified recently in respiratory secretions from patients with acute respiratory tract infection. Their potential role in respiratory disease is still unclear and requires additional investigation. To facilitate further studies and diagnosis, a real-time PCR with melting curve analysis was optimized and evaluated to detect WU and KI polyomaviruses.

HBVRegDB: annotation, comparison, detection and visualization of regulatory elements in hepatitis B virus sequences.

Background: The many Hepadnaviridae sequences available have widely varied functional annotation. The genomes are very compact (approximately 3.2 kb) but contain multiple layers of functional regulatory elements in addition to coding regions.