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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Stem Cell-Derived Viral Ag-Specific T Lymphocytes Suppress HBV Replication in Mice
Published on: September 25, 2019
Immunobiology and pathogenesis of viral hepatitis
Luca G Guidotti1, Francis V Chisari
1Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. guidotti@scripps.edu
Abstract:
Among the many viruses that are known to infect the human liver, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are unique because of their prodigious capacity to cause persistent infection, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. HBV and HCV are noncytopathic viruses and, thus, immunologically mediated events play an important role in the pathogenesis and outcome of these infections. The adaptive immune response mediates virtually all of the liver disease associated with viral hepatitis. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that antigen-nonspecific inflammatory cells exacerbate cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-induced immunopathology and that platelets enhance the accumulation of CTLs in the liver. Chronic hepatitis is characterized by an inefficient T cell response unable to completely clear HBV or HCV from the liver, which consequently sustains continuous cycles of low-level cell destruction. Over long periods of time, recurrent immune-mediated liver damage contributes to the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
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