CD8A and chronic hepatitis B virus infection: To translate our findings beyond preclinical models of persistent HBV gene expression in hepatocytes, we analysed circulating CD8 T cells from five HLA-A2+ patients with chronic hepatitis B who did not receive antiviral treatment and were characterized by loss of HBeAg, low-serum HBsAg, low amounts of circulating HBV DNA and no signs of continuing liver damage (Supplementary Table I).