The duration of HBV replicative intermediates present in the livers of the replicon DNA-injected animals.

<p>BALB/c (A), C57BL/6 (B), and FVB/N (C) mice were hydrodynamically injected with 10 µg of the pHBV1.3-B6 replicon DNA. At the indicated time points, two animals were sacrificed. The liver genomic DNA was extracted and digested with <i>Hind</i>III (a single cut in the HBV replicon DNA), and then analyzed using Southern blot analysis with an HBV-specific probe. Each lane represents one animal. The sizes corresponding to the injected DNA, and the replicative intermediates are indicated on the right. (D) The IHC staining of HBcAg and HBsAg in the livers of the BALB/c, C57BL/6, and FVB/N mice injected with pHBV1.3-B6 DNA. Livers were harvested at the time points indicated. IHC staining was performed using anti-HBc or anti-HBs antibody on frozen sections. The scale bar represents 100 µm. The images are displayed at 200× magnification.