Structural insights into the HBV receptor and bile acid transporter NTCP.

Around 250 million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide, and 15 million may also carry the satellite virus hepatitis D virus (HDV), which confers even greater risk of severe liver disease. The HBV receptor has been identified as sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP), which interacts directly with the first 48 amino acid residues of the N-myristoylated N-terminal preS1 domain of the viral large protein. Despite the pressing need for therapeutic agents to counter HBV, the structure of NTCP remains unsolved.