Demethylation by 5-azacytidine results in the expression of hepatitis B virus surface antigen in transgenic mice.
In 14p3HB transgenic mice, which carry three tandem copies of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, the HBV DNA was significantly methylated and no viral proteins were produced. To analyze the causal relationship between hypermethylation and gene inactivity, 5-azacytidine was injected into the mice to demethylate HBV DNA. When postnatal 14p3HB mice were treated with the drug, hepatitis virus surface antigen was produced in these mice by 3 weeks of age, and the integrated HBV DNA of the liver was less heavily methylated. Our results suggest that injection of 5-azacytidine can be used to efficiently activate a silent transgene such as HBV DNA in transgenic mice.
Araki
K
K
Institute for Medical Genetics, Kumamoto University Medical School.
Miyazaki
J
J
Tsurimoto
T
T
Inomoto
T
T
Iwanaga
T
T
Matsubara
K
K
Yamamura
K
K
D000818:Animals; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D001374:Azacitidine