HBeAg

A simplified drawing of the HBV particle and surface antigen. Purple = Lipid Envelope, Red = Nucleocapsid Core (Note: This drawing is slightly misleading in that the nucleocapsid core is a single entity even though it is depicted as a light blue icosahedral line shape and a red ring of circles).
The genome organisation of HBV. The genes overlap. (ORF Core, at bottom left, encodes HBcAg; when translated together with Pre C, it produces soluble HBeAg.)

HBeAg is a hepatitis B viral protein, produced by the HBcAg reading frame. It is an indicator of active viral replication; this means the person infected with Hepatitis B can likely transmit the virus on to another person (i.e. the person is infectious). HBeAg is considered a marker for cccDNA replication.[1]

  1. ^ Suslov, A.; Meier, M. A.; Ketterer, S.; Wang, X.; Wieland, S.; Heim, M. H. (2021). "Transition to HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection is associated with reduced cccDNA transcriptional activity". Journal of Hepatology. 74 (4): 794–800. doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2020.11.003. PMID 33188905. S2CID 226961485.