Two transgenic mice were produced by microinjection of the entire hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome as a 3.2-kilobase EcoRI DNA fragment into one-cell embryos. Each animal contained a single, unique locus of HBV sequence. One founder animal, G7, contained a partially deleted HBV genome lacking both putative HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) promoters. The other animal, G26, contained greater-than-genome-length HBV sequences organized as a partial head-to-tail dimer. Both transgenic animals transmitted the HBV sequences in a Mendelian fashion, and all subsequent transgenic animals had detectable HBsAg in the serum. Expression of HBV sequences in tissues from G7and G26-derived mice showed preferential expression of the 2.1-kilobase HBsAg RNA traQscript in liver and kidney tissues by Northern (RNA) blot analysis. These data are consistent
DNA copy number changes were investigated in 69 samples of schistosoma-associated (SA) and nonschistosoma-associated (NSA) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). DNA copy number changes were detected in 47 tumors. SA tumors had more changes than NSA tumors (mean, 7 vs. 4), whereas the number of changes in SCC and TCC tumors was similar. SA tumors displayed more gains than losses (1.7:1), whereas NSA tumors showed an equal number of gains and losses. Changes that were observed at similar frequencies in SCC and TCC, irrespective of the schistosomal status, included gains and high-level amplifications at 1q, 8q, and 20q and losses in 9p and 13q. These changes may be involved in a common pathway for bladder tumor development and progression independent of schistosomal status or histological subtype. Losses in 3p and gains at 5p were seen only in SCC (P < 0.01) and losses in 5q were more frequent in SA-SCC than in other tumors (P < 0.05). However, changes that were more frequent in TCC than those in SCC included gains at 17q (P < 0.01) and losses in 4q (P < 0.05) and 6q (P < 0.01). Gains and high-level amplifications at 5p were seen only in SA-SCC (P < 0.01), whereas gains and high-level amplifications with minimal common overlapping regions at 11q13 were more frequently seen both in SA-SCC and SA-TCC tumors (P < 0.01). In addition to the In Western countries, more than 90% of primary bladder carcinomas (BC) are transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), whereas squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) comprises less than 10%.
Background: IL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play important roles in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and are strongly associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced HCV clearance. Objectives: In the present study, the association between IL28B variants and the progression of HCV infection in Egyptian patients infected with type 4a virus will be examined. Patients and Methods: Frequencies of the protective genotype C/C of SNP, rs12979860 were determined in healthy subjects, spontaneous resolvers, and chronic HCV type 4 patients with low F scores and in patients with end stage liver disease (ESLD). This study included a total of 404 subjects. Patients infected with HCV type 4a (n = 304) were divided into; chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with low F scores (CHC, n = 110), end stage liver disease (n = 110), liver cirrhosis (LC) (n = 35) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients (n = 75), spontaneous resolvers of HCV infection (n = 84) were also included. A healthy group representing the Egyptian population (n = 100) was also included in the genotyping of IL28B. The later was typed via a polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay analysis on purified genomic DNA extracted from all individuals. Results: A significant increase (P < 0.0005) was observed in frequencies of IL-28B rs12979860 C/C genotypes in the healthy population, than in the CHC, LC and HCC groups (C/C = 48%, 13%, 0%.and 0% respectively). On the other hand the C/C genotype was significantly higher (P < 0.0005) in spontaneous resolvers than in healthy subjects. A comparable significant increase in the frequency of C/T allele accompanied by mild elevation of T/T allele frequency, were detected along the progression towards ESLD.
In house produced E1 antibody, blocks binding and entry of HCV virion infection to target cells suggesting the involvement of this epitope in virus binding and entry. Isolation of these antibodies that block virus attachment to human cells are useful as therapeutic reagents.
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