Transcriptomic analysis of the woodchuck model of chronic hepatitis B: Spleen gene expression in uninfected, resolved and chronically infected woodchucks

ABSTRACT: The Eastern woodchuck (Marmota monax) is naturally infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), a hepadnavirus closely related to the human hepatitis B virus (HBV). The woodchuck is used as an animal model for studying chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in humans, but the lack of sequence information has hitherto precluded functional genomics analysis. To address this major limitation of the model, we report here the sequencing, assembly and annotation of the woodchuck transcriptome, together with the generation of custom woodchuck microarrays. Using this new platform, we characterized the transcriptional response to persistent WHV infection and WHV-induced HCC. This revealed that chronic WHV infection, like HBV, is associated with (i) a limited i

ORGANISM(S): Marmota monax

SUBMITTER: Donavan Cheng 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-36544 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress