ABSTRACT
The mechanism of hepatitis B virus entry is an interesting area in HBV research but still enigmatic.The difficulties in HBV entry research were primarily caused by the lack of easily accessible in vitro infection models.Recent years,primary hepatocytes from Tupaia belangeri has been substituted for primary human hepatocytes and upon induction of differentiation in vitro.A human hepatoma cell line named HepaRG has been found to be susceptible for HBV infection too.The two cell models enabled researchers to obtain a number of important discoveries for HBV entry.This article are focusing on these discoveries,including the domains of HBV surface proteins involved in HBV entry,potential HBV receptor candidates and the questions to be resolved in future years.