title: Perinatal activation of a tyrosine aminotransferase fusion gene does not occur in albino lethal mice.
abstract: To investigate developmental expression of the rat tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene in normal and in albino lethal mice we generated transgenic mice carrying a fusion gene of TAT 5'-sequences (11 kb) and the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene. In four lines, CAT activity was found only in liver. RNA analyses on a high-expressing line showed that transgenic expression follows expression of mouse TAT mRNA: it is inducible by glucocorticoids and activated perinatally. This perinatal activation of transgene expression does not occur in lethal albino mice (c14CoS/c14CoS) which are characterized by reduced mRNA levels of several liver-specific enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, the data show that the 5'-flanking region of the rat TAT gene contains elements specifying regulated expression and establish that the 5'-flanking region of the TAT gene is responsive to the enzyme deficiency characteristic of the albino lethal mice.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell and Tumor Biology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beermann
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hummler
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schütz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000235:genetics*; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D015870:Gene Expression; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D015756:Genes, tat; D006720:Homozygote; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D051381:Rats; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D014444:Tyrosine Transaminase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012097:Repressor Proteins; D003907:Dexamethasone; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase; D014444:Tyrosine Transaminase