Influence of the microenvironment of hepatitis B virus-infected hepatocytes on innate immunity's mechanisms

Abstract

HBV virus is an infectious agent that replicates in the hepatocytes and causes an acute form of hepatitis, but it can also lead to a chronical inflammation, and consequently, to a hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV virus is also described as "stealth virus" due to its ability to avoid recognition by the innate immunity system and the immune activation, as it does not cause the immune response1.

The goal of our project is to discover the immune inhibitory mechanism, as this knowledge can be useful in clinical research.