Demethylation by 5-Azacytidine Results in the Expression of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen in Transgenic Mice |
| |
| Authors: | Kimi Araki Jun-ichi Miyazaki Toshiki Tsurimoto Takeaki Inomoto Tomohisa Iwanaga Kenichi Matsubara Ken-ichi Yamamura |
| |
| Affiliation: | Institute for Medical Genetics, Kumamoto University Medical School, 4-24-1 Kuhonji, Kumamoto 862;Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita 565 |
| |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| |
| Keywords: | Hepatitis B virus Transgenic mice 5-Azacytidine Methylation |
|
|
