Taipei Veterans General Hospital

About: Taipei Veterans General Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 11878 authors who have published 16478 publications receiving 363424 citations. The organization is also known as: Táiběi Róngmín Zǒngyī Yuàn.

Hepatitis B virus transcript produced by RNA splicing.

Abstract: A new hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcript of about 2.2 kilobases was identified in HBV DNA-transfected human hepatoma cells. The 5' terminus of this viral RNA appears to map at one or more of the precore initiation sites, contains a deletion of 1,223 bases corresponding to the last codon of the core gene to the middle of the surface antigen gene, and terminates at the 3' polyadenylation site used by the other known HBV RNAs. The junction region of the deleted sequences showed the conserved splice donor and acceptor GT-AG sequences. Moreover, when a mutant HBV DNA in which the splice acceptor site was changed from AG to CG was transfected into human hepatoma cells, no 2.2-kilobase RNA was detected, further suggesting that this RNA represents a spliced transcript. The core gene, although an amino acid shorter, still encoded a functional viral core protein in complementation experiments. Sequence analysis of the cDNA of the 2.2-kilobase RNA suggests that this transcript can potentially encode a new protein that comprises the reverse transcriptase domain of HBV. However, genetic analysis using a transient DNA transfection system suggests that the gene product(s) of this transcript is not essential for viral replication. The function of this transcript remains to be studied.

Idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Abstract: Idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV) has been recognized as a peculiar form of choroidal neovascularization. The clinical features of recurrent serous retinal leakage and retinal hemorrhage may vary from single lesion to mul-tifocal, from self-limited to recurrent. Caucasian and Japanese patients with IPCV have been reported in the literature. However, research and case reports about IPCV in Chinese patients are relatively rare. We present 2 Chinese patients with IPCV in Taiwan with 2 different clinical pictures and visual outcomes during long-term follow-up. Further study for the etiology, clinical courses and treatments of the different subtypes of IPCV in Chinese is necessary.