Fig. 7.

Inhibition of hepatitis B virus infection of in vitro infected HepG2-hNTCP cell lines (Ni et al., 2014) by BM32-induced antibodies. Intracellular staining of HBV core antigen (HBcAg: green) in cultured HepG2-hNTCP cells seven days after addition of (a) buffer (uninfected), HBV without or with the neutralizing antibody (Ma 18/7), (b) serum from rabbits before (pre) or after (post) immunization with Engerix-B or (c) BM32 (20 μg) or sera obtained at visits V5 and V15 from subjects immunized with (d) placebo, (e) 20 μg or (f) 40 μg of BM32.

Bottom: Percentages of the inhibition (HBeAg secretion) of hepatitis B virus infection of cultured HepG2-hNTCP (x-axis) achieved by pre-incubation of virus with, Ma18/7, serum from a placebo-treated subject without prior HBV vaccination, sera from subjects after three (grey bars) or seven (black bars) immunizations with BM32 and sera from rabbits immunized with Engerix-B or BM32.