Novel robust in vitro hepatitis B virus infection model using fresh human hepatocytes isolated from humanized mice.

The molecular mechanisms underlying the hepatitis B virus (HBV) life cycle are poorly understood because of the lack of appropriate in vitro infection models. Herein, we report a highly effective in vitro HBV infection system using fresh human hepatocytes (HHs) isolated from chimeric mice with humanized livers. After the inoculation of sera collected from HBV-infected chimeric mice or patients to HHs, we measured levels of HBV DNA, mRNA, covalently closed circular DNA, and viral protein expression in HHs.

The third type III module of human fibronectin mediates cell adhesion and migration.

Fibronectin (FN) is a major extracellular matrix protein involved in various biological events. This study demonstrated that the third FN type III repeat (FnIII3) and several fragments containing the repeat promote cell spreading and migration of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), whereas the fourth repeat (FnIII4) did not. A variety of cell types also spread on FnIII3 in a cell-type-specific manner, but not on FnIII4.