%0 Journal Article %A Fletcher, Nicola F. %A Humphreys, Elizabeth %A Jennings, Elliott %A Osburn, William %A Lissauer, Samantha %A Wilson, Garrick K. %A van IJzendoorn, Sven C. D. %A Baumert, Thomas F. %A Balfe, Peter %A Afford, Simon %A McKeating, Jane A. %T Hepatitis C virus infection of cholangiocarcinoma cell lines %D 2015 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 96 %N 6 %P 1380-1388 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.000090 %I Microbiology Society, %X Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects the liver and hepatocytes are the major cell type supporting viral replication. Hepatocytes and cholangiocytes derive from a common hepatic progenitor cell that proliferates during inflammatory conditions, raising the possibility that cholangiocytes may support HCV replication and contribute to the hepatic reservoir. We screened cholangiocytes along with a panel of cholangiocarcinoma-derived cell lines for their ability to support HCV entry and replication. While primary cholangiocytes were refractory to infection and lacked expression of several entry factors, two cholangiocarcinoma lines, CC-LP-1 and Sk-ChA-1, supported efficient HCV entry; furthermore, Sk-ChA-1 cells supported full virus replication. In vivo cholangiocarcinomas expressed all of the essential HCV entry factors; however, cholangiocytes adjacent to the tumour and in normal tissue showed a similar pattern of receptor expression to ex vivo isolated cholangiocytes, lacking SR-BI expression, explaining their inability to support infection. This study provides the first report that HCV can infect cholangiocarcinoma cells and suggests that these heterogeneous tumours may provide a reservoir for HCV replication in vivo. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.000090