Chronic HBV infection impairs induction of interferon responsive genes in human hepatocytes repopulating the liver of uPA/SCID mice

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is characterized by dysfunctional innate and adaptive immune responses and recent in vitro studies indicated that the interferon (IFN) signaling is impaired in HBV-transfected hepatoma cell lines. Aim of this study was to investigate whether HBV can directly interfere with the hepatocellular IFN alpha response in chronically infected human hepatocytes repopulating the livers of uPA/SCID mice. Methods: Using primers specific for human transcripts and not cross-reacting with murine genes, we comparatively analysed responsiveness of transplanted hepatocytes to treatment wit…