Hepadnavirus cores

A method of preparing a non-infectious, recombinant hepadnavirus core particle composition comprising (a) hepadnavirus core particles, (b) template nucleic acid encapsidated in core particles and (c) hepadnavirus polymerase encapsidated in core particles, wherein, upon addition of deoxynudeoside triphosphates to the composition, the hepadnavirus polymerase incorporates deoxynucleotides into reverse transcripts of the template nucleic acid beginning with the first deoxynucleotide of the reverse transcript or within about ten deoxynucleotides of the first deoxynucleotide of the reverse transcript, the method comprising

• transfecting or infecting a cell with one or more nucleic acid vectors that (i) encode hepadnavirus polymerase and express hepadnavirus polymerase in the transfected or infected cell and (i) encode hepadnavirus core protein and express hepadnavirus protein in the transfected or infected cell, and (iii) contain template nucleic acid,
• isolating said core particles formed from the expressed hepadnavirus core protein and hepadnavirus polymerase and the template nucleic acid, which is derived from one of the nucleic acid vectors.

A non-infectious, recombinant hepadnavirus core particle composition isolated from cells, wherein said cells are transformed with one or more recombinant vectors encoding hepadnavirus core protein and hepadnavirus polymerase and contacted with a reverse-transcriptase inhibiting effective amount of a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and wherein the core particles comprise hepadnavirus polymerase and template nucleic acid encapsidated therein such that, upon addition of deoxynucleoside triphosphates to the composition, the deoxynucleotides are incorporated into DNA.

A non-infectious, recombinant hepadnavirus core particle composition isolated from insect cells transformed with one or more recombinant baculoviruses encoding hepadnavirus core protein and hepadnavirus polymerase, wherein the core particles comprise hepadnavirus polymerase and template nucleic acid encapsidated therein such that, upon addition of deoxynucleoside triphosphates to the composition, the deoxynucleotides are incorporated into DNA.

A non-infectious, recombinant hepadnavirus core particle composition comprising core particles that comprise hepadnavirus polymerase and nucleic acid encapsidated therein such that, upon addition of deoxynucleoside triphosphates to the composition, deoxynucleotides are incorporated into a substantial distribution of (+)-strand nucleic acids.