Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of innate immune-associated molecules in Huh7， HepG2，HepG2.2.15 and L02 hepatocyte lines and the influence of their expression by hepatitis B viral transfection in intro. Methods The total mRNA of the four cultured cells and three transfected cells by HBV replication clone（pAAV-HBV1.2）were extracted and reverse transcripted to cDNA. The expression of the innate immune-associated molecules such as TLRs，NLRs and RLRs were detected by PCR. Results The results showed that all of the four cell lines not only expressed the TLRs such as TLR1，TLR3，TLR4 and TLR9，but also expressed the NLRs such as NOD1，and RLRs such as RIG1. The expression of MDA5 and A20 decreased in transfected HepG2 and Huh7 cells. Conclusion Hepatocytes can express a series of innate immune-associated molecules such as TLRs and RLRs. There are distinct expression in different hepatocyte lines. HBV could influence the expression of the innate immune-associated molecules in hepatocyte lines.

Key words: Hepatocyte lines, Innate immune-associated molecules, Hepatitis B virus