Methods and techniques to increase the reliability of detecting virus infections, particularly lymphotropism, to eliminate false negative reactions in testing blood for the presence of lymphotropic viruses during enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and to better detect viruses with lymphotropism in biological materials having a concentration of virus particles lower than the sensitivity threshold of existing EIA and PCR methods, thereby making the techniques of the present invention more reliable.

A U2OS-based model system using luciferase reporters to monitor the genome replication of alpha and beta HPVs is provided. A modified U2OS cell line is disclosed that expresses Firefly luciferase to measure toxicity of the screened compounds. In addition, provided are HPV18, HPV 16 and HPV5 marker genomes that express Renilla luciferase under the control of viral promoters used to measure changes in the viral copy number. This ready-to-use model system is capable of being used in high-throughput screens to identify compounds inhibiting initial amplification and stable maintenance as well as vegetative phase of various HPV subtypes.

The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for nucleic acid detection. Nucleic acids may be derived from any source including, for example, viruses, bacterial cells, and eukaryotic cells. The methods of the present disclosure may be used to detect the presence of at least one member of a plurality of nucleic acids in a sample. The methods of the present disclosure may be used to detect the presence of both a first and second member of a plurality of nucleic acids in a sample. Nucleic acids may be detected by the generation of one or more signals.

Methods for the rapid detection of the presence or absence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) in a biological or non-biological sample are described. The methods can include performing an amplifying step, a hybridizing step, and a detecting step. Furthermore, primers, competitive blocking oligonucleotides, and probes targeting HBV (in particular HBV RNA, in particular, HBV RNA transcribed from cccDNA, such as pgRNA) and kits are provided that are designed for the detection of HBV (in particular HBV RNA, in particular, HBV RNA transcribed from cccDNA, such as pgRNA).

Methods and techniques to increase the reliability of detecting virus infections, particularly lymphotropism, to eliminate false negative reactions in testing blood for the presence of lymphotropic viruses during enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and to better detect viruses with lymphotropism in biological materials having a concentration of virus particles lower than the sensitivity threshold of existing EIA and PCR methods, thereby making the techniques of the present invention more reliable.

This disclosure is related to methods for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening. In one aspect, the disclosure relates to methods of detecting an integration site of hepatitis B vims (HBV) viral DNA in the genome of a subject. The methods involve collecting a nucleic acid sample from the subject; enriching the nucleic acids comprising HIBV sequences in the sample by hybridizing the nucleic acid sample to probes for HIB V viral DNA; sequencing the enriched nucleic acids, thereby obtaining a plurality of sequencing reads; mapping the sequencing reads to both human genome and HBV genome; and detecting the integration site of HIBV viral DNA at the human genome.

A method and a kit for identifying HBV-host junction sequences (HBV-JSs) from a biological sample are provided. The method includes: preparing a DNA sample (e.g. DNA library) and performing at least one round of enrichment. Each round of enrichment includes a sub-step of capturing HBV DNA sequence-containing DNA molecules from the DNA sample by means of an HBV probe set, which includes a plurality of elaborately designed HBV primers configured to selectively and respectively target different regions of an HBV genome, and each HBV primer is labelled with an immobilization portion such as biotin moiety so as to allow immobilization onto a solid support such as magnetic beads. The method and kit can be used for non-invasively detecting HBV-JSs using a urine sample and other body fluids. The information of the HBV-JSs can be further utilized in the screening, diagnosis, prognosis and management of HBV-associated HCC.

The present invention provides a method of inhibiting hepatitis E virus (HEV) release from a cell that is infected with an HEV, and a method of treating a HEV infection in a subject in need thereof. The present invention also provides a method of identifying agent that inhibits HEV infectivity using a transcomplementation system.

Methods for detecting HAV in a biological sample are provided, comprising amplifying a target nucleic acid comprising the sequence of HAV in a reaction mixture. The reaction mixture comprises a biological sample which may contain the target nucleic acid and set of oligonucleotides. The invention also provides kits for the detection of HAV.

Cell-free DNA molecules in a mixture of a biological sample can be analyzed to detect viral DNA. Methylation of viral DNA molecules at one or more sites in the viral genome can be determined. Mixture methylation level(s) can be measured based on one or more amounts of the plurality of cell-free DNA molecules methylated at a set of site(s) of the particular viral genome. The mixture methylation level(s) can be determined in various ways, e.g., as a density of cell-free DNA molecules that are methylated at a site or across multiple sites or regions. The mixture methylation level(s) can be compared to reference methylation level(s), e.g., determined from at least two cohorts of other subjects. The cohorts can have different classifications (including the first condition) associated with the particular viral genome. A first classification of whether the subject has the first condition can be determined based on the comparing.