title: Molecular cloning, characterization and expression analysis of TGF-β and receptor genes in the woodchuck model.
abstract: Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is an important cytokine with pleiotropic regulatory functions in the immune system and in the responses against viral infections. TGF-β acts on a variety of immune cells through the cell surface TGF-β receptor (University of Duisburg-EssenTGFBR). The woodchuck has been used as a biomedical model for studies of obesity and energy balance, endocrine and metabolic function, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and neoplastic disease. Woodchucks infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) represent an informative animal model to study hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, the cDNA sequences of woodchuck TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGFBR1 and TGFBR2 were cloned, sequenced and characterized. The full-length TGFBR1 cDNA sequence consisted of 1305bp coding sequence (CDS) that encoded 434 amino acids with a molecular weight of 48.9kDa. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the woodchuck TGF-β family genes had a closer genetic relationship with Ictidomys tridecemlineatus. One antibody with cross-reactivity to woodchuck TGFBR1 was identified by flow cytometry. Moreover, the expression of these genes were analyzed at the transcriptional level. The quantitative PCR analysis showed that the TGF-β family transcripts were constitutively expressed in many tissues tested. Altered expression levels of the TGF-β family transcripts in the liver of WHV infected woodchucks were observed. These results serve as a foundation for further insight into the role of the TGF-β family in viral hepatitis in woodchuck model. Our work also possesses the potential value for characterizing the TGF-β family in other related diseases, such as obesity-related diseases, metabolic disorder, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Junzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Yana
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Baoju
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Shangqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roggendorf
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Mengji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. Electronic address: jialiu77@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infection and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. Electronic address: dlyang@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dongliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D008392:Marmota / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D053781:Transforming Growth Factor beta2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D053781:Transforming Growth Factor beta2
keywords: Expression; Hepatitis; Sequence analysis; TGF-β family; Woodchuck