Normal and pathological expression of GFAP promoter elements in transgenic mice.
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.
Galou
M
M
Unité de Biochimie des Antigènes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Pournin
S
S
Ensergueix
D
D
Ridet
J L
JL
Tchélingérian
J L
JL
Lossouarn
L
L
Privat
A
A
Babinet
C
C
Dupouey
P
P
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
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D001616:beta-Galactosidase