Tg(Mt1-HBV)28Bri

The transgene contains the zinc-inducible mouse metallothionein I promoter sequences upstream of the hepatitis B virus HBsAg coding region. The HBsAg coding region is the 2.3 kbp BglII A fragment from the hepatitis B virus genome spanning nucleotides 2839 and 1986 (from GenBank V01460.1). This region contains the entire HBV envelope/surface antigen (HBsAg) open reading frame (pre-S1, pre-S1 and S), the region between the S and X genes, and the X gene. The HBV large envelope protein is produced only from a larger transcript emanating from the transcription start sites defined by the mouse metallothionein I promoter, but the middle and small envelope proteins are regulated by a constitutively active internal promoter located within the envelope coding region. (J:139865)