At present the whole world has more than 350 million chronic viral hepatitis b patients, among them 15 million people at the same time also infected with the hepatitis b virus HDV satellite. China has about 120 million carriers of secondary liver virus, including 30 million chronic hepatitis b patients. Each year about 350000 people die by chronic hepatitis b related diseases. Biochemical and genetic tests have revealed that a liver protein called NTCP is a functional receptor for hepatitis B and D viruses, which should lead to an improved understanding of the infections caused by these viruses and assist the development of new intervention strategies.

Huan YAN et al., eLife, DOI:10.7554/eLife.00049