Novel approach to identifying the hepatitis B virus pre-S deletions associated with hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Establishment of a rapid method based on capillary gel electrophoresis to detect HBV pre-S deletions. A: A DNA marker was applied to construct the standard curve. CGE was used to detect the size of DNA fragments with a linear range of 246 bp to 576 bp and a regression coefficient (R²) of 0.999; B: Representative CGE profiles of the pre-S DNA amplification products from the serum samples of 5 HBV-infected subjects. Sample a: wild-type HBV; Sample b: 6 bp deletion mutant alone; Sample c: 36 bp deletion mutant alone; Sample d: mixture of wild-type virus and a 126 bp deletion mutant; Sample e: mixture of wild-type virus and 21 bp and 54 bp deletion mutants. M: Maker (246 bp, 325 bp, 388 bp, 435 bp, 545 bp, and 576 bp); AU: Absorbance units.

Figure 2 Longitudinal observation of hepatocellular carcinoma-related pre-S deletions during the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Figure 3 Longitudinal observation of hepatocellular carcinoma-related pre-S deletions in Qidong hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Black: Pre-S deletion; Grey: Wild type; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.