Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 8, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00200-8
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R21AI117213, R37GM086868]
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund Award for Investigators in Pathogenesis
- Princeton University
- NIAID
- German Research Foundation (DFG)
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Hepatitis B virus causes chronic infections in 250 million people worldwide. Chronic hepatitis B virus carriers are at risk of developing fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. A prophylactic vaccine exists and currently available antivirals can suppress but rarely cure chronic infections. The study of hepatitis B virus and development of curative antivirals are hampered by a scarcity of models that mimic infection in a physiologically relevant, cellular context. Here, we show that cell-culture and patient-derived hepatitis B virus can establish persistent infection for over 30 days in a self-assembling, primary hepatocyte co-culture system. Importantly, infection can be established without antiviral immune suppression, and susceptibility is not donor dependent. The platform is scalable to microwell formats, and we provide proof-of-concept for its use in testing entry inhibitors and antiviral compounds.
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