interleukin-8 and Hepatitis--Viral--Animal

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.

Topics: Amino Acid Motifs; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Conserved Sequence; Disease Models, Animal; DNA, Complementary; DNA, Viral; Exons; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B Virus, Woodchuck; Hepatitis, Viral, Animal; Humans; Interleukin-8; Introns; Kidney; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental; Marmota; Molecular Sequence Data; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Viral Load