To test the requirement of endogenous expression of NTCP for HBV and HDV infection, we first examined the effect of NTCP gene silencing on viral infection of PTHs. PTHs were transfected with tsNTCP-specific or a control small interfering RNA (siRNA) prior to viral inoculation. When tsNTCP Figure 3 . Binding of NTCP with N-terminal peptide of pre-S1 and HDV virions. (A) 293T cells transfected with an expression vector or plasmid containing cDNA of hNTCP or tsNTCP fused with a C9 tag at its C-terminus were cross-linked with 200 nM Myr-47/WT b or Myr-N9K b similarly as in Figure 2A at 24 hr post-transfection. Cross-linked protein samples were precipitated by Streptavidin Dynal beads followed by treatment with PNGase F as indicated, and then analyzed by Western blotting using mAb 2D3 or anti-C9 tag antibody. (B) 293T cells transfected with tsNTCP-EGFP or a control hSDC2-EGFP (encoding human heparan sulfate proteoglycan core protein fused with EGFP at C-terminus) expression plasmid were incubated with WT b or N9K b in the presence or absence of 200 nM non-photoreactive Myr-47/WT as indicated. Bound peptides were probed with PE-streptavidin and the colocalization of peptide and NTCP on cell surface was shown in the merged images. (C) FACS analysis of pre-S1 peptide binding with hNTCP transiently transfected Huh-7 cells. 24 hr post-transfection with hNTCP or a control plasmid, the cells were stained with 200 nM FITC-pre-S1 (FITC-labeled lipopeptide corresponding to the N-terminal 59-amino acid of pre-S1). The binding was analyzed by flow cytometry. (D) Huh-7 cells, after 24 hr of transfection of indicated plasmids, were incubated with wild-type HDV or HDV with a N9K mutation on its L protein. Bound virions were quantified by qRT-PCR. The result is presented as fold changes of binding over the background virus binding to pcDNA6-transfected cells. mAb: monoclonal antibody; tsNTCP: Tupaia NTCP; NTCP: sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.00049.011 mRNA level was reduced to ∼30% in tsNTCP siRNA-transfected cells ( Figure 4A , upper-left), total HDV RNA copies were markedly reduced in these cells comparing to those transfected with control siRNA. We further quantified the HDV genome and antigenome RNA copies using strand-specific reverse transcription followed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The HDV antigenome is a circular replication intermediate that is complementary to the genome. It is not present in the inoculum and only appears in infected cells (Chen et al., 1986) . As shown in Figure 4A (upper-middle panel), both HDV genomic and antigenomic RNA copies were greatly reduced in cells transfected with tsNTCP-specific siRNA but not the control siRNA, indicating that tsNTCP is required for de novo HDV infection. By contrast, lenti-VSV-G virus infection, for which viral entry is mediated by glycoprotein protein G of VSV, was not affected in the tsNTCP-and siRNA-transfected cells ( Figure 4A , upper-right). These data demonstrate that HDV viral entry requires NTCP. As HDV is enveloped by HBV envelope proteins and can only infect target cells in a single round in the absence of HBV, these data support that tsNTCP functions at entry level for viral infection mediated by HBV envelope proteins.