I have spent most of my time in graduate school developing new methods to measure HBV and our response to HBV infection in the liver. My most recent work has been to crack open the mystery of HBV splice variants. It has been expensive and difficult to study HBV splice variants, so we really do not understand the multiple roles they may be playing during infection. We know that HBV can infect, replicate, and spread without the need for any splice variants, however, we also have evidence that HBV splice variants are associated with liver cancer and resistance to interferon therapy. As we explore novel therapies, we must also consider novel targets such as splice variants. To do this, we need new methods and tools to measure HBV.
We recently finalized a new technique for measuring HBV RNA. From blood, liver, or tissue culture samples, we directly quantify multiple splice variants and pgRNA. For the first time, we can not only measure the amount of a particular splice variant, but also directly compare this to pgRNA. This new method is more accessible to labs around the world as a cheaper, faster alternative to study splice variants than what was available.
We are using this new method to investigate splice variant expression during infection and treatment. We hope to identify a biomarker to improve treatment strategies and drive new drug discovery. If splice variants are indeed playing a role in chronic disease and liver failure, we need to be able to measure them and treat chronic liver disease earlier. Not much is known about the role of splice variants in chronic HBV infection, so this is a unique opportunity to not only discover new things, but expand treatments and care for people.