Hepatocellular carcinoma xenograft supports HCV replication: A mouse model for evaluating antivirals

Figure 2 Intracellular expression of hepatitis C virus-green fluorescence protein in the subcutaneous tumor of SCID mice. Mice were injected subcutaneously with 10⁶ hepatitis C virus-green fluorescence protein (GFP) replicon cells. Tumor growth was monitored on a weekly basis. A: Tumorigenicity of Huh-7 replicon cells in γ-irradiated SCID mice; B: Expression of GFP in tumor cells during the in vivo passage. The number of GFP positive cells was low (< 10%) after the first passage. There was a gradual increase in GFP expression in the subcutaneous tumors after each passage. After four passages, the number of GFP-positive cells increased significantly (> 50%).