Published online 24 May 2005
Methods Online |
A novel transgenic chimaeric mouse system for the rapid functional evaluation of genes encoding secreted proteins
Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory, Pharmaceutical Division, Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. 3 Miyahara-cho, Takasaki-shi, Gunma 370-1295, Japan 1Molecular Embryology, Department of Biosciences, School of Science, Kitasato University 1-15-1 Kitasato, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa, 228-8555, Japan
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81 27 346 9934; Fax: +81 27 346 1971; Email: ktomizuka{at}kirin.co.jp
Received February 12, 2005. Revised May 2, 2005. Accepted May 2, 2005.
A major challenge of the post-genomic era is the functional characterization of anonymous open reading frames (ORFs) identified by the Human Genome Project. In this context, there is a strong requirement for the development of technologies that enhance our ability to analyze gene functions at the level of the whole organism. Here, we describe a rapid and efficient procedure to generate transgenic chimaeric mice that continuously secrete a foreign protein into the systemic circulation. The transgene units were inserted into the genomic site adjacent to the endogenous immunoglobulin (Ig)
locus by homologous recombination, using a modified mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell line that exhibits a high frequency of homologous recombination at the Ig
region. The resultant ES clones were injected into embryos derived from a B-cell-deficient host strain, thus producing chimaerism-independent, B-cell-specific transgene expression. This feature of the system eliminates the time-consuming breeding typically implemented in standard transgenic strategies and allows for evaluating the effect of ectopic transgene expression directly in the resulting chimaeric mice. To demonstrate the utility of this system we showed high-level protein expression in the sera and severe phenotypes in human EPO (hEPO) and murine thrombopoietin (mTPO) transgenic chimaeras.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K.-A. Kim, M. Kakitani, J. Zhao, T. Oshima, T. Tang, M. Binnerts, Y. Liu, B. Boyle, E. Park, P. Emtage, et al. Mitogenic Influence of Human R-Spondin1 on the Intestinal Epithelium Science, August 19, 2005; 309(5738): 1256 - 1259. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
