Hepatitis B Virus-Infected HepG2 hNTCP Cells Serve as a Novel Immunological Tool To Analyze the Antiviral Efficacy of CD8 + T Cells In Vitro

Abstract

CD8 + T cells are the main effector lymphocytes in the control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, limitations of model systems, such as low infection rates, restrict mechanistic studies of HBV-specific CD8 + T cells. Here, we established a novel immunological cell culture model based on HBV-infected HepG2 hNTCP cells that endogenously processed viral antigens and presented them to HBV-specific CD8 + T cells. This induced cytolytic and noncytolytic CD8 + T-cell effector functions and reduction of viral loads.