Enhancement of hepatitis-B surface-antigen expression by 5-azacytidine in a hepatitis-B-virus-transfected cell line. |
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| Authors: | E Miyoshi J Fujii N Hayashi K Ueda T Towata H Fusamoto T Kamada N Taniguchi |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Biochemistry, Osaka University Medical School, Japan. |
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| Abstract: | The human hepatoblastoma-derived cell line HB611 secretes hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis-B e antigen (HBeAg) into the medium. Hepatitis-B-virus (HBV) DNA integrated into the cellular genome was found to be hypermethylated. When the cells were treated with 5-azacytidine for 3 days, the level of HBsAg in the medium increased, while the level of HBeAg remained constant. The level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) decreased with the 5-azacytidine treatment. Southern blot analysis of DNA digested with HpaII or MspI showed that 5-azacytidine treatment resulted in hypomethylation of the integrated HBV DNA, suggesting that 5-azacytidine increased HBsAg production in the cells through hypomethylation of the HBV genomic DNA. |
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