title: Experimental in vitro and in vivo models for the study of human hepatitis B virus infection.
abstract: Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects an estimate of 240 million people worldwide despite the availability of a preventive vaccine. Medication to repress viral replication is available but a cure is rarely achieved. The narrow species and tissue tropism of the virus and the lack of reliable in vitro models and laboratory animals susceptible to HBV infection, have limited research progress in the past. As a result, several aspects of the HBV life cycle as well as the network of virus host interactions occurring during the infection are not yet understood. Only recently, the identification of the functional cellular receptor enabling HBV entry has opened new possibilities to establish innovative infection systems. Regarding the in vivo models of HBV infection, the classical reference was the chimpanzee. However, because of the strongly restricted use of great apes for HBV research, major efforts have focused on the development of mouse models of HBV replication and infection such as the generation of humanized mice. This review summarizes the animal and cell culture based models currently available for the study of HBV biology. We will discuss the benefits and caveats of each model and present a selection of the most important findings that have been retrieved from the respective systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Center for Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allweiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Center for Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel Sides, Germany. Electronic address: m.dandri@uke.de.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dandri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Animal models; Antiviral therapy; Cell culture; Human liver chimeric mice; Immunopathogenesis; NTCP; uPA/SCID