New technique sustains virus in liver cells, allowing study of immune response and drug treatments.
A new technique for studying the lifecycle of the hepatitis B virus could help researchers develop a cure for the disease.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Sangeeta Bhatia of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
Charles Rice of Rockefeller Univ. describe using microfabricated cell
cultures to sustain hepatitis B virus in human liver cells, allowing
them to study immune responses and drug treatments.
Around 400 million people worldwide are infected with the hepatitis B
virus (HBV); of those, one-third will go on to develop life-threatening
complications, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
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Labels: immune response, Research and Discoveries, viral lifecycle