Reconstitution of the Entire Hepatitis C Virus Life Cycle in Nonhepatic Cells

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a human hepatotropic virus, but the relevant host factors restricting HCV infection to hepatocytes are only partially understood. We demonstrate that exogenous expression of defined host factors reconstituted the entire HCV life cycle in human nonhepatic 293T cells. This study shows robust HCV entry, RNA replication, and production of infectious virus in human nonhepatic cells and highlights key host factors required for liver tropism of HCV.