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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

A Competent Hepatocyte Model Examining Hepatitis B Virus Entry through Sodium Taurocholate Cotransporting Polypeptide as a Therapeutic Target
Published on: May 10, 2022
Hepatitis B Virus Infection of a Mouse Hepatic Cell Line Reconstituted with Human Sodium Taurocholate Cotransporting
Florian A Lempp1, Bingqian Qu1, Yong-Xiang Wang2
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) enters hepatocytes via its receptor, human sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (hNTCP). So far, HBV infection has been achieved only in human hepatic cells reconstituted with hNTCP and not in cells of mouse origin. Here, the first mouse liver cell line (AML12) which gains susceptibility to HBV upon hNTCP expression is described. Thus, HBV infection of receptor-expressing mouse hepatocytes does not principally require a human cofactor but can be triggered by endogenous murine determinants.

