News:16th-century Korean mummy provides clue to hepatitis B virus genetic code

StephenW

Public release date: 29-May-2012


Contact: Jerry Barach
[email protected]
972-258-82904
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
16th-century Korean mummy provides clue to hepatitis B virus genetic code

		IMAGE: The ancient Korean mummy of a child provides clues to the hepatitis B virus genome.

        Jerusalem and Rehovot, Israel; Seoul, South Korea, May 29, 2012 --  The discovery of a mummified Korean child with relatively preserved organs enabled an Israeli-South Korean scientific team to conduct a genetic analysis on a liver biopsy which revealed a unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C2 sequence common in Southeast Asia.
        Additional analysis of the ancient HBV genomes may be used as a model to study the evolution of chronic hepatitis B and help understand the spread of the virus, possibly from Africa to East-Asia. It also may shed further light on the migratory pathway of hepatitis B in  the Far East from China and Japan to Korea as well as  to other regions in Asia and Australia where it is a major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
        The reconstruction of the ancient hepatitis B virus genetic code is the oldest full viral genome described in the scientific literature to date. It was reported in the May 21 edition of the scientific journal Hepatology by a research team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment; the Hebrew University's Faculty of Medicine, the Hadassah Medical Center's Liver Unit;  Dankook University and Seoul National University in South Korea.
        Carbon 14 tests of the clothing of the  mummy  suggests that the boy  lived around  the 16th century during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The viral DNA sequences recovered  from the  liver biopsy enabled  the scientists to map the entire ancient hepatitis B viral genome.
        Using modern-day molecular genetic techniques, the researchers compared the ancient DNA sequences with contemporary viral genomes disclosing distinct differences. The changes in the genetic code are believed to result from spontaneous mutations and possibly environmental pressures during the virus evolutionary process. Based on the observed mutations rates over time, the analysis suggests  that the reconstructed mummy's hepatitis B virus DNA had its origin between  3,000 to 100,000 years ago.
        The hepatitis B  virus is transmitted through the contact with infected  body fluids , i.e. from carrier mothers to their babies, through sexual contact and intravenous drug abuse. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 400 million carriers of the virus worldwide, predominantly in Africa, China and South Korea, where up to 15 percent of the population  are cariers of the virus.  In recent years, universal immunization of newborns against hepatitis B in Israel and in South Korea has lead to a massive decline in the incidence of infection.
The findings are the result of a  collaborative effort between  Dr. Gila Kahila Bar-Gal of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine; Prof. Daniel Shouval of the Hadassah Medical Center's Liver Unit and Hebrew University; Dr. Myeung Ju Kim of  Dankook University, Seok Ju Seon Memorial Museum; Dr. Dong Hoon Shin of Seoul National University, College of Medicine ; Prof Mark Spigelman of the Hebrew University's Dept. of Parasitology and Dr. Paul R. Grant of University College of London,Dept. of Virology.

StephenW

公开发布日期：2012年5月29日

联系人：杰里Barach
[email protected]
972-258-82904
耶路撒冷希伯来大学
16世纪的韩国木乃伊提供线索，以B型肝炎病毒的遗传密码



形象：一个孩子的韩国古代木乃伊，B型肝炎病毒基因组提供的线索。
点击这里获取更多信息。




耶路撒冷和以色列Rehovot，2012年5月29日，韩国汉城 - 一个干尸韩国的孩子相对保存的器官的发现，使以色列，韩国科研小组进行的遗传分析，发现一个独特的肝炎肝活检乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）基因型C2的顺序常见于东南亚。

额外的古老的乙肝病毒基因组的分析，可以用来作为模型来研究慢性乙型肝炎的演变，并有助于了解病毒的蔓延，可能从非洲到东亚。它也可能会进一步阐明乙肝的迁徙途径上的光来自中国和日本在远东的韩国以及在亚洲和澳洲等地区，它是肝硬化和肝癌的主要病因。

重建古老的B型肝炎病毒的遗传密码，是最古老的完整的病毒基因组最新的科学文献中描述。这是报告在五月21的科学杂志肝病版1在耶路撒冷的兽医Koret之后学校的希伯来大学的研究团队，农业，食品和环境的罗伯特H.史密斯学院的希伯来大学的医学学院，在哈达萨医疗中心的肝组;檀国大学，韩国汉城国立大学。

木乃伊服装碳14测试表明，这名男孩16世纪左右居住在韩国的朝鲜王朝。从肝活检病毒DNA序列，使科学家们能够绘制整个古老的B型肝炎病毒基因组。

利用现代分子遗传技术，研究人员比较了古DNA序列，与当代的病毒基因组的披露明显的差异。遗传密码的变化被认为是导致自发突变和在病毒进化过程中可能的环境压力。随着时间的推移所观察到的突变率的基础上，分析表明，重建木乃伊的乙肝病毒DNA有其原产地在3000至10万年前。

B型肝炎病毒是通过接触感染的体液，即通过性接触和静脉吸毒从载波母亲给婴儿传播。根据世界卫生组织，有超过400万全球病毒携带者，主要是在非洲，中国和韩国，其中高达15％的人口​​是病毒cariers。近年来，对新生儿普遍接种乙肝乙在以色列和韩国率先在感染的发病率大幅度下降。

的结果之间的吉拉Kahila博士耶路撒冷Koret之后学校的兽医希伯来大学的酒吧-Gal的协同努力的结果;的丹尼尔Shouval教授哈达萨医学中心的肝股和希伯来大学博士Myeung菊金檀国大学董大夫勋新汉城国立大学医学院教授马克Spigelman希伯来大学寄生虫学系和保罗·R·格兰特博士，伦敦大学学院，系，锡柱善纪念馆;病毒。