PCR analysis
The expression levels of cellular mRNAs, HBV pgRNA, and S-mRNA were
standardized using GAPDH mRNA as a reference. Total intracellular HBV
DNA and cccDNA levels were normalized against genomic β-globin levels.
Real-time PCR was conducted using specific primer and probe sets (listed
in Table S2) on Rotor-Gene 6000 (Corbett Research) and CFX96 cycler
(BioRad). Relative expression levels were determined using the ΔΔCt
method.