Hepatitis B Virus Infection of HepaRG Cells, HepaRG-hNTCP Cells, and Primary Human Hepatocytes.

Hepatitis B Virus Infection of HepaRG Cells, HepaRG-hNTCP Cells, and Primary Human Hepatocytes. Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1540:15-25 Authors: Ni Y, Urban S Abstract Investigations of virus-host interactions rely on suitable in vitro cell culture systems that efficiently support virus infection. Such systems should ideally provide conditions that resemble those of natural host cells, e.g., the cell-type specific signaling and metabolic pathways. For HBV infection, primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) are the most faithful system fulfilling these requirements but access to these cells is limited. Moreover, the reproducibility of experimental results depends on many factors including the preparation method or variability of the donors. The human liver cell line HepaRG, after differentiation, resembles PHHs with respect to many hepatocyte-specific markers including the expression of cytochrome P450 enzymes, liver-specific transcription factors, and transporter proteins like the HBV-specific receptor, sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP). HepaRG cells have also been shown to express key molecules of the innate immune system. So far, the HepaRG cell line is the only one allowing both studies on HBV/HDV infection and liver-specific drug toxicity and metabolism. The relative low susceptibility of HepaRG cells when compared with PHHs depends on various factors and can partially be overcome by constitutive expression of the receptor...
Source: Molecular Medicine - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Methods Mol Biol Source Type: research