Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major causative agent of post transfusion n
on-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH), can only infect humans and chimpanzees,
We produced nine transgenic mouse lines carrying a full-length HCV cD
NA with the human serum amyloid P component (hSAP) promoter that can d
irect liver-specific expression, In one of these lines HCV mRNA and HC
V core protein were detected in the liver of the transgenic mouse, alt
hough the levels of expression were very low. In addition, HCV-related
antibody was detected in the serum.