title: A mouse model for studying the clearance of hepatitis B virus in vivo using a luciferase reporter.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection remains a global problem, despite the effectiveness of the Hepatitis B vaccine in preventing infection. The resolution of Hepatitis B virus infection has been believed to be attributable to virus-specific immunity. In vivo direct evaluation of anti-HBV immunity in the liver is currently not possible. We have developed a new assay system that detects HBV clearance in the liver after the hydrodynamic transfer of a reporter gene and over-length, linear HBV DNA into hepatocytes, followed by bioluminescence imaging of the reporter gene (Fluc). We employed bioluminescence detection of luciferase expression in HBV-infected hepatocytes to measure the Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg)-specific immune responses directed against these infected hepatocytes. Only HBcAg-immunized, but not mock-treated, animals decreased the amounts of luciferase expression, HBsAg and viral DNA from the liver at day 28 after hydrodynamic infection with over-length HBV DNA, indicating that control of luciferase expression correlates with viral clearance from infected hepatocytes.
authors.affiliation: Lab of Blood-Borne Viruses, Beijing Institute of Transfusion Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-qiang
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Qian-qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhen-nan
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Shao-duo
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Qiu-xia
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Xiao-hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuai-zheng
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Jian-chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Yang-gen
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lin-sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Zhan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter / Q000235:genetics*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007267:Injections; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly / Q000235:genetics*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly