. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jul 23.

Published in final edited form as: Gastroenterology. 2018 Sep 19;156(2):338–354. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.06.093

Table 1.

Advantages and Limitations of Cell Culture Systems for Studying HBV

Systems	Advantages	Limitations
Human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2, Huh7)	• Readily available • Robust in supporting steps in replication after transcription	• Fail to support infection • Oncogenic transformation: only partially mimic normal hepatocytes
HepaRG	• Support infection • Mimic normal hepatocytes better than other hepatoma cell lines	• Low efficiency of infection • Complicated conditions for differentiation
HepG2-NTCP	• Readily available	• Oncogenic transformation: only partially mimic normal hepatocytes
Primary human hepatocytes	• Support HBV infection • Mimic normal hepatocytes the best • Support complete HBV life cycle	• Low efficiency of infection • Limited in supply • High cost • Donor variability
iHep cells	• Unlimited in supply • Support complete HBV life cycle • Mimic normal hepatocytes better than hepatoma cell lines	• Complicated conditions for differentiation • Induced hepatocytes may not fully mimic mature hepatocytes