Comparative analysis of gene expression upon IFNα stimulation in hepatocyte-like cells [IFN]

Patients chronically co-infected by Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) suffer from the most aggressive form of viral hepatitis leading to severe liver disease such as cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver decompensation. Treatments options are very limited with only two drugs used in clinic (IFN-α and Bulevertide) that rarely allow viral clearance. The molecular mechanisms leading to inhibition of HDV by IFN-α (in patients but also in vitro) are not known and mechanisms behind treatment failures in patients also remain elusive. Here we aimed at the identification of interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) that can specifically inhibit intracellular HDV replication. IFN-α was able to inhibit HDV in both co-infected differentiated HuH7.5-NTCP- and HepaRG cells (dHuH7.5-NTCP and dHepaRG, respectively). We hypothesized that ISGs responsible for the antiviral effect of HDV should be upregulated in both dHepaRG and dHuH7.5-NTCP cells upon treatment with IFN-α. To identify these ISGs, dHuh7.5-NTCP and dHepaRG cells were stimulated with IFN-α for 8h, total RNAs were extracted and gene expression was analyzed by RNAseq.