title: Normal and pathological expression of GFAP promoter elements in transgenic mice.
abstract: The expression of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a component of astroglial intermediate filaments, is regulated under developmental and pathological conditions. In order to characterize DNA sequences involved in such regulations, we produced transgenic mice bearing 2 kb of the 5' flanking region of the murine GFAP gene linked to the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) reporter gene. Seven transgenic lines were obtained. We observed that the regulatory elements present in the transgene GFAP-nls-LacZ direct an expression in the neural and non-neural tissue and target in vivo an unexpected subpopulation of astrocyte. In the developing brain, beta-gal activity and GFAP appeared simultaneously and in the same region, on embryonic day 18 (E18), suggesting that the 2 kb of the promoter contains the regulatory sequences responsible for the perinatal vimentin/GFAP switch. In addition, we demonstrated that the 2 kb sequence of the GFAP promoter used in the transgene possess elements which are activated after a surgical injury, thus permitting to study some aspects of reactive gliosis in these transgenic mice. These transgenic lines provide a useful tool by enabling further studies of astroglial and, probably, neuronal physiologies.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Biochimie des Antigènes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galou
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pournin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ensergueix
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ridet
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tchélingérian
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lossouarn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Privat
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Babinet
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dupouey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001483:Base Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005911:Gliosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012016:Reference Values; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D001616:beta-Galactosidase