Figure 7.

No infectious particle of tgDeV and mmDeV was produced by supplementation of HBV envelop proteins. (a) Quantification of deltavirus RNAs in culture supernatants. HDV, tgDeV, or mmDeV expression plasmid was transfected with or without plasmid expressing HBV envelope proteins into Huh7 cells. Viral RNA levels in supernatants were quantified using quantitative RT-PCR (n = 3). (b, c) HepG2-NTCP cells were incubated with the culture supernatants of the transfectants for 24 h in the presence or absence of 500 nM Myrcludex B (MyrB), an inhibitor of HBV envelope-dependent viral entry. The cells were cultured for an additional 6 days, and viral RNA levels and protein expression were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR (n = 3) (b) and IFA (c), respectively. The numbers in (c) correspond to those of (b). Blue, DAPI; Red, HDV; tgDeV, or mmDeV DAg. Scale bar = 50 μm.