Frozen PHH cells were thawed and subsequently transfected as that of PTH with human SLC10A1specific siRNA 5′-CACAAGUGCUGUAGAAUUAdTdT-3′ (siR405) or a siRNA pool containing four SLC10A1 specific siRNAs from QIAGEN (5′-GGAUCGUCCUCAAAUCCAAdTdT-3′, 5′-GGAGUCAGCCGGAGAACAAdTdT-3′, 5′-GGACAAGGUGCCCUAUAAAdTdT-3′, 5′-GGUGCUA UGAGAAAUUCAAdTdT-3′). Control siRNA 5′-UUCUCCGAACGUGUCACGUdTdT-3′ (Ctrl-si) has a scramble sequence with no known mammalian target sequence. Total 20 nM siRNA was transfected into ∼1.4 × 10 5 PHH cells per well in 48-well plate 24 h after initial cell seeding; the cells were then inoculated with HBV 72 hr after transfection. hNTCP mRNA level in the Research article siRNA-transfected cells was quantified by qRT-PCR 3 days after siRNA transfection. The secreted antigens HBsAg and HBeAg, and the intracellular HBV RNAs were determined on indicated days after infection.