Natural killer cells and IFN-γ protect against liver injury during HAV infection in mice.

ABSTRACT: A limited number of studies on human subjects with type-A hepatitis have found a positive correlation between activated natural killer (NK) cell frequencies in blood and the severity of liver injury. However, without knowledge of differences in viral burdens, it remains unclear whether NK cells are elevated due to hepatitis A virus (HAV) replication and ongoing associated injury, or if NK cell responses directly cause pathogenesis. To gain insight into how NK cells respond during the early stages of hepatitis A virus infection, we generated mice that are permissive for HAV infection in the liver but are otherwise immunocompetent. HAV readily infected the liver of these hepatocyte-specific type-I interferon receptor knockout mice (Ifnar1^ΔHep), resulting in fecal virus shed

SUBMITTER: Misumi I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12548451 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature