Interestingly, we found both of these linker substitutions were similar to the WT HBc in expression and assembly in human hepatoma cells (Fig 4A and 4C, lanes 2–3, middle and bottom panels), in contrast to their severe defect in assembly in bacteria [24], further attesting to the drastic effects of the expression host on the assembly behavior of the different HBc constructs. The gene discussed is KRT88P; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.