CD81 and hepatocellular carcinoma: By screening cells of human andnon-human origins for absence or low SR-BI expression in which HCV entry could berestored by SR-BI ectopic expression, our data highlight one non-hepatoma human cellline and one hepatoma rat cell line in which HCV entry assays could be performed.Our results therefore clearly demonstrate that SR-BI is an essential entry factor,along with CD81 and CLDN1, mediating HCV entry.