Hepatocyte apoptosis in the livers of NOG mice 3 days post-transfection with pHBA1.2 or pHBC1.2.

<p>Liver sections from NOG mice 3 days after transfection with pHBA1.2 or pHBC1.2 were subjected to immunohistochemical staining. <b>(A)</b> Representative images of immunohistochemical staining for TUNEL and cleaved caspase-3, and the number of positive cells (N = 4–5). <b>(B)</b> Representative images of pHBA1.2-transfected or pHBC1.2-transfected livers with double immunofluorescence staining for the HBc protein (green) and cleaved caspase-3 (red). The arrows indicate HBc and cleaved caspase-3 double-positive cells, while the arrowheads indicate HBc-positive and cleaved caspase-3-negative cells. <b>(C)</b> The ratio of cleaved caspase-3-positive cells in HBcAg-negative or -positive hepatocytes (right panel) (N = 4–5). pA: pHBA1.2, pC: pHBC1.2. *, P < 0.05.