A rat model for hepatitis E virus.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the prime causes of acute viral hepatitis, and chronic hepatitis E is increasingly recognized as an important problem in the transplant setting. Nevertheless, the fundamental understanding of the biology of HEV replication is limited and there are few therapeutic options. The development of such therapies is partially hindered by the lack of a robust and convenient animal model. We propose the infection of athymic nude rats with the rat HEV strain LA-B350 as such a model. A cDNA clone, pLA-B350, was constructed and the infectivity of its capped RNA transcripts was confirmed in vitro and in vivo Furthermore, a subgenomic replicon, pLA-B350/luc, was constructed and validated for in vitro antiviral studies. Interestingly, rat HEV proved to be less sensitive t

SUBMITTER: Debing Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5087834 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature