Primary but not secondary biliary acids inhibit hepatitis D virus entry into human hepatoma cells expressing the sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide

Background: The sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), a bile acids (BA) transporter mediating uptake of BA into hepatocytes, has been found to be an essential receptor for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV). To what extent BA affect HBV/HDV cell entry and whether the BA transport function is linked to HBV/HDV receptor function is unknown. Methods: We stably expressed NTCP in Huh-7 cells. Huh-7/NTCP cells were then infected with in vitro generated HDV particles and the effects of BA on infectivity were assessed using immunofluorescence staining for HDV antigen and standard 50% ti…