Human serum leads to differentiation of human hepatoma cells, restoration of very-low-density lipoprotein secretion, and a 1000-fold increase in HCV Japanese fulminant hepatitis type 1 titers.

Unlabelled: In this study, we differentiated the human hepatoma cell line Huh7.5 by supplementing tissue culture media with human serum (HS) and examined the production of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by these cells. We compared the standard tissue culture protocol, using media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), to media supplemented with 2% HS.