[Establish a transgenic mice model harboring structural genes of hepatitis C virus].
OBJECTIVE
To establish an animal model of HCV transgenic mice to elucidate the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection and function of the viral structural proteins.


METHODS
Structural gene of HCV were amplified and recombined into eukaryotic expression vectors, pcDNA4HisMax and pMT/BiP/V5-His A, after their expressive activity was confirmed to detect the structural protein in the transfected COS7 and S2 cells by Western blot. The fertilized expression element, which contained CMV or pMT promoter, structural gene of HCV and polyadenylation signal sequence, was microinjected into 1736 C57BL/6 mouse fertilized ova. The ova were then replanted into the oviducts of 69 pseudopregnant recipient mice.


RESULTS
Twenty-five recipient mice were impregnated and later produced 105 newborns; 49 of them died from unknown causes and 57 survived. After the specific HCV structural genes were identified by PCR and Southern blot hybridization, 26 founders were obtained; among them 10 were stable expression mice and 16 were the inducible ones. The rate of founders developed from implanted embryos was only 1.50%. Through hybridization with normal mice, 58 hybrid mice have been obtained at present.


CONCLUSIONS
Two kinds of different transgenic mice of HCV were developed; one is of stable expression, and the other is inducible. This transgenic mice model may create an opportunity for studying the function of the structural gene of HCV and elucidate its pathogenicity.
Ren
Jin-yu
JY
Unit of Clinical Viral Research, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200025, China.
Cheng
Guo-xiang
GX
Kong
Xiao-fei
XF
Chen
Jian-quan
JQ
Zhou
Ru-jiang
RJ
Lu
Zhi-meng
ZM
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D015678:Viral Structural Proteins