Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40209859›Full record

ArticleJournal of virological methods2025

High-dimensional droplet digital PCR of multiple hepatitis B splice variants in serum, liver, and tissue culture.

Tanner Grudda, Chenkai Jiang, Che-Min Lo, Nicole E Skinner, Mark S Sulkowski, Ashwin Balagopal, Chloe L Thio

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of virological methods, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Tanner GruddaDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Chenkai JiangDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Che-Min LoDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Nicole E SkinnerThe Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
Mark S SulkowskiDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Ashwin BalagopalDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: abalago1@jhmi.edu.
Chloe L ThioDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

Funding

Vaccine Response and Immunotherapeutics SWGP30AI094189 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Anna Palmer Durbin · 2012 to 2026
$67.0M
Training: Molecular & Cellular Bases of Infectious DiseasesT32AI007417 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Arturo Casadevall · 1994 to 2026
$11.9M
Characterization of silently HBV-infected hepatocytes in HIV co-infectionR01AI138810 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BALAGOPAL, ASHWIN, THIO, CHLOE L · 2018 to 2021
$3.2M
HBV cccDNA transcriptional silencing with and without HIVR01AI181659 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI ASHWIN BALAGOPAL, CHLOE L THIO · 2024 to 2026
$2.4M
Mechanisms of HBV cccDNA transcriptional regulation in persons with and without HIVR56AI138810 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BALAGOPAL, ASHWIN, THIO, CHLOE L · 2023 to 2023
$811k
Unraveling sources of hepatitis B surface antigen before and after nucleos(t)ide analogue treatment in People with HIVR21AI157760 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BALAGOPAL, ASHWIN, THIO, CHLOE L · 2021 to 2022
$450k
Identifying the source of hepatitis B surface antigen in people with hepatitis B-HIV co-infectionR21AI165166 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BALAGOPAL, ASHWIN, THIO, CHLOE L · 2021 to 2022
$450k
Quantifying the frequency and diversity of spliced HBV mRNAs in HIV-HBV co-infection and their role in modulating viral transcription and host immune responsesF31AI179435 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI GRUDDA, TANNER · 2023 to 2024
$97k
NIAID NIH HHS F31 AI179435NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI094189NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI138810NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI181659NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI157760NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI165166NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI138810NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI007417
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects approximately 2 billion individuals; 254 million have chronic infection. The roles of spliced HBV (spHBV) RNAs in human infection are poorly understood partly due to limitations in quantitative methods. We designed and multiplexed long amplicon (0.3-2kbp) ddPCR assays that simultaneously quantify the most frequently observed spHBV isoforms (sp1, sp2, sp3, sp8, sp9) alongside unspliced pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). Our innovations include the use of ddPCR, long amplicons, and high-dimensional multiplexing. We tested primers and probes using qPCR on synthetic DNA targets to identify a high-fidelity combination recognizing HBV genotype A viruses. Using common forward and reverse primers we accounted for PCR efficiency differences between amplicons of differing size. We altered denaturation and annealing temperatures to enrich spHBV, the minority population of total HBV RNA. To achieve higher-order multiplexing, we increased the number of cycles to 80, added a post-reverse transcription cleanup step, and tested > 360 oligo concentration combinations. We performed spatial transcriptomic sequencing on liver tissue to confirm splice junctions measured by ddPCR. We successfully quantified spHBV and pgRNA in serum, liver, and HBV-infected HepG2

Indexed as

Hepatitis BHepatitis B virusLiverRNA, ViralGenotypeHumansReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionRNA SplicingRNA, ViralddPCR optimizationHBVLong amplicon ddPCRMultiplex ddPCRSpHBV

Identifiers

PMID40209859
PMCPMC12455858

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.