Gene Expression Analysis for HBx-induced HCC Mouse Model

Hepatoarcinogenesis is a slow and multistep process. We used Hepatitis B virus X antigen (HBx) induced Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as model. We also identify the biomarkers, the pathways and networks underlying HCC formation in this animal model. We analyzed the events from the early, middle, and late stages, in order to predict and prevent the development of cancer. At each specific stage, we analyzed the expression level that differed at least two-fold between HBx transgenic and wild-type mouse liver. Statistical approaches were used to identify genes displaying an increasing or decreasing trend throughout hepatocarcinogenesis. The liver was excised from 6-week-, 8-month-, 12-month-, 14-month-, and 16-month-old HBx transgenic mice (A106 strain) and RNA samples were isolated. In both 14-month- and 16-month-old mice, samples were obtained from both the tumor tissue and the normal.