OX40 stimulation and PD-L1 blockade synergistically augment HBV-specific CD4 T cells in patients with HBeAg-negative infection

Persistent infection with the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a major risk factor for the development of chronic liver injury, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide [1]. While there is a prophylactic vaccination to prevent chronic infection, therapeutic approaches for persistent infection are limited and mostly fail to eliminate the virus [2]. Promising therapeutic approaches include T-cell based immunotherapy as both HBV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells have been shown to be required for viral clearance but are functionally impaired in the context of chronic infection [3 –5].

Source: Journal of Hepatology - February 28, 2019 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Felix Johannes Jacobi, Katharina Wild, Maike Smits, Katharina Zoldan, Benedikt Csernalabics, Tobias Flecken, Julia Lang, Philipp Ehrenmann, Florian Emmerich, Maike Hofmann, Robert Thimme, Christoph Neumann-Haefelin, Tobias Boettler Source Type: research