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Updated: Nov 18, 2025

"Liver-on-a-Chip" Cultures of Primary Hepatocytes and Kupffer Cells for Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Published on: February 19, 2019
Sorted B cell transcriptomes point towards actively regulated B cell responses during ongoing chronic hepatitis B
Stijn Van Hees1, Bart Cuypers2, Stefan Bourgeois3
1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Antwerp University Hospital, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Antwerp, Belgium; Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Paediatrics, Antwerp University, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
Abstract:
The natural course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections follows distinct clinical disease phases, characterized by fluctuating levels of serum HBV DNA and ALT. The immune cells and their features that govern these clinical disease transitions remain unknown. In the current study, we performed RNA sequencing on purified B cells from blood (n = 42) and liver (n = 10) of healthy controls and chronic HBV patients. We found distinct gene expression profiles between healthy controls and chronic HBV patients, as evidenced by 190 differentially expressed genes (DEG), but also between the clinical phenotypes of a chronic HBV infection (17-110 DEG between each phase). Numerous immune pathways, including the B cell receptor pathway were upregulated in liver B cells when compared to peripheral B cells. Further investigation of the detected DEG suggested an activation of B cells during HBeAg seroconversion and an active regulation of B cell signalling in the liver.
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