FIG. 4.
Transient WHV infection in woodchuck 38. The left side of the figure shows the results from the analysis of WHV DNA markers during transient WHV infection as determined previously by Kajino et al. (14). The types of values shown in the four leftmost columns are as follows: virus, the number of virions per milliliter of serum (multiplied by 10−9); ISH, the fraction (percentage) of hepatocytes that showed a positive signal in an in situ hybridization (ISH) assay with a WHV probe; and rf and ccc, the copy numbers of replicative form (rf) and cccDNA, respectively, relative to the total number of hepatocytes. The central panel shows the results from the RNase protection analysis with RNA obtained at the indicated number of weeks p.i. (w.p.i.). The right side shows the results from the histological examination of liver sections for apoptotic hepatocytes and for hepatocytes with nuclear PCNA staining. The columns contain the following types of values: the AI, the fraction of hepatocytes that showed morphological signs of apoptosis, and the fraction of hepatocytes with nuclei that were positive for PCNA, respectively.