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Characterization of interleukin 8 in woodchucks with chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma

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Abstract

The eastern woodchuck, Marmota monax, represents a useful animal model to study hepatitis B virus infection in humans. However, immunological studies in this model have been impeded by a lack of basic information about the components of the immune system such as cytokines and chemokines. To clarify the role(s) of interleukin 8 (IL-8) in chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the woodchuck model, we cloned and characterized the woodchuck IL-8 cDNA and genomic DNA. Sequence analysis revealed that the organization of the wk-IL-8 gene is similar to that of the human IL-8 gene and consists of four exons and three introns. Woodchuck IL-8 protein exhibits the conserved ELRCXC motif of IL-8 and shows 87, 82, 82 and 79% similarity with rabbit, ovine, bovine and human IL-8 proteins, respectively. The biological activity of wk-IL-8 was demonstrated using neutrophil chemotaxis assays. Wk-IL-8 could be readily detected in both tumor and non-tumor tissues with higher expression in the non-tumor tissues in most cases. The results from this study will facilitate the investigation of IL-8 in the immunopathogenesis of hepadnavirus-related diseases by the woodchuck model.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Drs Betty A Wu-Hsieh, Chung-Yi Hu and Fang Liao for helpful suggestions and discussions on neutrophil chemotaxis assay. We also thank Miss Hui-Chu Tu and Miss Hsiu-Li Chou for their excellent technical assistance.

This research was supported by funds from the National Research Program for Genomic Medicine of National Science Council (Grant NSC 96-3112-B-002-009), National Taiwan University (Grant 95R0066-BM02-04) and National Taiwan University Hospital (Grant NTUH.97A10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    C-J Liu & P-J Chen

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    C-J Liu, D-S Chen & P-J Chen

  3. Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    C-J Liu, Y-J Huang, H-L Chen, H-T Lin, H-L Lin, D-S Chen & H-L Wu

  4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    M-L Kuo

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Children's Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    J-L Huang

  6. Department of Medical Research, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    P-J Chen

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  1. C-J Liu
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Correspondence to H-L Wu.

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Liu, CJ., Huang, YJ., Chen, HL. et al. Characterization of interleukin 8 in woodchucks with chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma. Genes Immun 10, 27–36 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2008.86

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