string: Because this immortalized murine hepatocyte cell line has typical features of normal hepatocytes and expresses high levels of hepatocyte-specific proteins, such as albumin, 1-antitrypsin, and transferrin (55), it has been used as a cell culture model to study hepatocellular metabolism and effects of the HBV X protein and other exogenous or host cellular proteins on the growth and differentiation of hepatocytes (46, 49).