Study of Liver-Specific Expression of Cytokines During Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus Infection

The woodchuck model has become a well-accepted animal system for the study of host immune responses to hepadnavirus infection. Recently, a series of woodchuck cytokines was characterized by molecular cloning (1 –5 ). The availability of the sequence information and the essential reagents makes it possible to study the role of cytokines for the control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and for immunopathogenesis in the woodchuck model.