Metabolically Improved Stem Cell Derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells Support HBV Life Cycle and Are a Promising Tool for HBV Studies and Antiviral Drug Screenings.

ABSTRACT: More than 300 million people worldwide are diagnosed with a chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Nucleos(t)ide viral polymerase inhibitors are available on the market and can efficiently treat patients with chronic HBV. However, life-long treatment is needed as covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) persists in the hepatocyte nucleus. Hence, there is a high demand for novel therapeutics that can eliminate cccDNA from the hepatocyte nucleus and cure chronically infected HBV patients. The gold standard for in vitro HBV studies is primary human hepatocytes (PHHs). However, alternatives are needed due to donor organ shortage and high batch-to-batch variability. Therefore, human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) are being explored as an in vitro HBV infect

SUBMITTER: Tricot T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8869365 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature