Abstract: Four out of the 13 mutations (
C124R,
C124Y,
K141E, and
D144A) strongly decreased the analytical sensitivity of seven commercial
HBsAg immunoassays, and 10 (
G119R,
C124Y,
I126S,
Q129R,
S136P,
C139R,
T140I,
K141E,
D144A, and
G145R) significantly impaired virion and/or
S protein secretion in both HuH7 cells and mice.