Experimental transfection of macaca sylvanus with cloned human hepatitis B virus

Occult HBV infection in Morocco: from chronic hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma

“…A 145‐bp fragment in the core gene was amplified using primers and PCR conditions previously described by Gheit et al . . The detection limit of these assays was 10 copies/reaction.…”

“…Serum from a patient HBsAg positive and HBV‐DNA positive was used as positive control. PCR products were visualized on 2% agarose gels stained with ethidium bromide and confirmed by Southern blot hybridization using a 32− P‐labelled random‐primed HBV‐DNA probe as previously described . We considered the cases that showed positivity in at least two HBV genomic regions as OBI positive.…”

Attacking hepatitis B virus cccDNA – The holy grail to hepatitis B cure

“…Studies using chimpanzees largely contributed to our understanding of the virus-host interaction [5] but have since been banned [6]. While chimpanzee hepatocytes support HBV replication [7][8][9], monkeys such as macaques or baboons frequently used for research cannot be infected by HBV due to differences in the NTCP protein sequence [10]. Macaques expressing the human NTCP will, however, constitute a very promising experimental model.…”

The Chimpanzee Model for Hepatitis B Virus Infection

“…Reports that HBV could also be transmitted to, and serially passaged in, rhesus monkeys could not be confirmed (London et al 1972). Similarly, a more recent report showed HBV replication in a Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) after transfection of cloned HBV DNA, but serial passage and persistent infection in these animals was not observed (Gheit et al 2002;Dupinay et al 2013). In contrast, gibbons (genus Hylobates) at the International Center for Gibbon Studies (Santa Clarita, CA) were positive for markers of ongoing or past HBV infection and phylogenetic analysis of the isolated HBV sequences suggested that the gibbons, most likely, had been infected by transmission of HBV from humans (Lanford et al 2000).…”