High level expression of human alpha-fetoprotein in transgenic mice.
Transgenic mice were produced by the microinjection of the cDNA of human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) under control of the enhancer/promoter of the human beta-actin gene. Among the 4 mouse lines where the transgene were stable transmitted to the progeny, 3 produced human AFP. The expression was not developmental stage-specific nor tissue-specific as predicted from the properties of enhancer/promoter. The serum human AFP levels of adult mice were 30-600-fold higher than those of mouse AFP. These mice could be useful for the studies of possible biological functions of AFP during development as well as in malignancies.
Yamashita
T
T
Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Kasai
N
N
Miyoshi
I
I
Sasaki
N
N
Maki
K
K
Sakai
M
M
Nishi
S
S
Namioka
S
S
D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000235:genetics*
D000199:Actins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D004247:DNA