About the Authors

Yoshihiro Matsumoto

Affiliations Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Tomokazu Matsuura

Affiliation Department of Laboratory Medicine, the Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Haruyo Aoyagi

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Mami Matsuda

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Su Su Hmwe

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Tomoko Date

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Noriyuki Watanabe

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Koichi Watashi

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Ryosuke Suzuki

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Shizuko Ichinose

Affiliation Research Center for Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan

Kenjiro Wake

Affiliations Research Center for Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan, Liver Research Unit, Minophagen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

Tetsuro Suzuki

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan

Tatsuo Miyamura

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Takaji Wakita

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Hideki Aizaki

aizaki@nih.go.jp

Affiliation Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

Competing Interests

K. Wake is employed by Minophagen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. GL (20-carboxyl-11-oxo-30-norolean-12-en--yl-2-O--D-glucopyranuronosyl--D-glucopyranosiduronic acid) was kindly provided by the Minophagen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: YM NW RS SI TS T. Miyamura T. Matsuura TW SH K. Wake K. Watashi. Performed the experiments: YM H. Aoyagi H. Aizaki. Analyzed the data: YM H. Aoyagi H. Aizaki. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MM TD. Wrote the manuscript: YM H. Aoyagi.