WOODCHUCK VIRUS--MOLECULAR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

土拨鼠肝炎病毒(WHV)在分类学和血清学上是 与乙肝病毒(乙肝病毒)有关。感染其中的每一种 病毒与急慢性肝炎和肝细胞有关 它们各自宿主中的癌症和这些关联似乎是 本质上是病因性的。因此，土拨鼠感染WHV提供了一种 一种相关的、方便的了解乙肝病毒感染的模型 人类。已经进行了几条研究路线。两个不同的WHV 分离株可引起表面抗原血症和肝肿瘤 显著不同的比率(最后一个发现具有重要意义 对理解涉及的分子机制的启示 病毒复制和肝病毒的致癌潜力)。 建立了一种可用于WHV基因转染的体外细胞培养系统。 两种不同复制率的分子基础(和， 通过延伸，确定了肝癌的发生)。美国政府的角色 研究了衣壳蛋白在病毒复制中的作用。美国政府的角色 检测病毒复制过程中的包膜蛋白。

The woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) is taxonomically and serologically related to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Infection with each of these viruses is associated with acute and chronic hepatitis and hepatic cell carcinoma in their respective hosts and these associations appear to be etiological in nature. Thus, WHV infection of woodchucks provides a relevant and convenient model for understanding HBV infections of humans. Several lines of research have been pursued. Two different WHV isolates were shown to induce surface antigenemia and liver tumors at significantly different rates (this last finding has important implications for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in viral replication and in the oncogenic potential of hepadnaviruses). An in vitro cell culture system for transfection of WHV was developed. The molecular basis for the two different rates of replication (and, by extension, hepatocarcinogenesis) was determined. The role of the capsid protein in viral replication was studied. The role of the envelope proteins in viral replication was examined.