Modeling Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Non-Hepatic 293T-NE-3NRs Cells

Summary

This manuscript describes a detailed protocol for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in novel engineered 293T cells (293T-NE-3NRs, expressing human NTCP, HNF4α, RXRα and PPARα) and traditional hepatic cells (HepG2-NE, expressing human NTCP).

Abstract

HBV mainly infects human hepatocytes, but it has also been found to infect extrahepatic tissues such as kidney and testis. Nonetheless, cell-based HBV models are limited to hepatoma cell lines (such as HepG2 and Huh7) overexpressing a functional HBV receptor, sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP). Here, we used 293T-NE-3NRs (293T overexpressing human NTCP, HNF4α, RXRα and PPARα) and HepG2-NE (HepG2 overexpressing NTCP) as model cell lines. HBV infection in these cell lines was performed either by using concentrated HBV virus particles from HepG2.2.15 or co-culturing HepG2.2.15 with the target cell lines. HBcAg immunofluorescence for HBcAg was performed to confirm HBV infection. The two methods presented here will help us study HBV infection in non-hepatic cell lines.  

Introduction

Hepatitis B affects the lives of more than 2 billion people and is one of the major threats to public health. Approximately 257 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide, causing a big burden to the society¹. Hepatocytes are not the only cells infected by HBV and other cells in non-hepatic tissue, such as kidney and testis, are also infected by this virus^2,3. Currently, HBV infection cell models are limited to human hepatocytes with only few non-hepatic cell line models. This hampers the study of HBV infection and HBV-related pathology of non-hepatic....

Protocol

Culture, collection of supernatants from HepG2.2.15 cells and HBV infection should be performed in biosafety level II (P2) or biosafety level III (P3) laboratory according to the biosafety guidance in the country. Laboratory safety practices should be followed to ensure the safety of laboratory personnel, and all should be vaccinated and detected HBsAb positive before performing HBV experiments. Observe the state of the cells at every step before proceeding to the next step. Human serum samples were used in accordance wi.......

Discussion

Here, we introduce protocols for HBV infection in non-hepatic 293T-NE-3NRs and hepatoma-based HepG2-NE cells. 293T-NE-3NRs were suitable for HBV infection at both high and low GEq. The following critical steps need to be taken into consideration while using our protocol. The cell status is an important factor for a successful infection. The infection medium must be changed timely after the initial period of HBV infection. 293T-NE-3NRs cells are typically fragile following infection with high viral titers. Therefore, thes.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.45μm membrane filter	Millex-HV	SLHU033RB	Filter for HepG 2.2.15 supernatant
293T-NE	Laboratory construction	——	Cell model for HBV infection
293T-NE-3NRs	Laboratory construction	——	Cell model for HBV infection
594 labeled goat against rabbit IgG	ZSGB-BIO	ZF-0516	For immunofluorescence assay,second antibody
6-well plate	BIOFIL	TCP010006	For co-culture
Amicon Ultra 15 ml	Millipore	UFC910008	For concentration of HepG 2.2.15 supernatant
BSA	Beyotime	ST023	For immunofluorescence assay
Cyclosporin A	Sangon biotech	59865-13-3	inhibitor of HBV infection
DAPI	Beyotime	C1006	For nuclear staining
Diagnostic kit for Quantification of Hepatitis B Virus DNA(PCR-Fluorescence Probing)	DAAN GENE	7265-2013	For HBV DNA detection
DMEM	HyClong	SH30243.01	For culture medium
DMSO	Sigma-Aldrich	D5879	For improvement of infection efficiency
Fetal bovine serum（FBS）	CLARK Bioscience	FB25015	For culture medium
Fluorescence microscope	ZEISS	Axio observer Z1	For immunofluorescence assay
HepG2-NE	Laboratory construction	——	Cell model for HBV infection
HBcAg antibody	ZSGB-BIO	ZA-0121	For immunofluorescence assay, primary antibody
PBS	ZSGB-BIO	ZLI-9062	For cell wash
PEG8000	Merck	P8260	For infection medium
Penicillin-Streptomycin-Glutamine	Thermo Fisher	10378016	For culture medium
Transwell	CORNING	3412	For co-culture
Tween 20	sigma-Aldrich	WXBB7485V	For PBST
Virkon	Douban	6971728840012	Viruside