Because that the ISG20-mediated HBV RNA degradation will lead to an overall suppression of the entire HBV life cycle in the infection system, we infer that the increased percentage of core staining-positive cell number in HBV infected HepG2-NTCP-shISG20 cells is a combinational end effect of increased viral protein expression, DNA replication, and cccDNA synthesis, plus the possible higher virus spread rate. This evidence concerns the gene ISG20 and infection.