4.4. Quantification of HBsAg and HBV DNA in Mice
Serum HBsAg and HBV DNA levels were quantified using the Abbott Architect I1000 system (Abbott Diagnostics, Green Oaks, IL, USA) and the Roche Lightcycler 480 (Roche Diagnostics, GmbH, Mannheim, Germany), respectively. The sequences of HBx-specific primers used to quantify the copy numbers of HBV DNA were 5′-CCGATCCATACTGCGGAAC-3′ (forward (nt 1261–1600)) and 5′-GCAGAGGTGAAGCGAAGTGCA-3′ (reverse) [