An upstream region of the rat spermatogenesis-specific heat-shock-like Hst70 gene confers testis-specific expression in transgenic mice.
In order to study the temporal and spatial regulation of a rat testis-specific heat-shock-like hst70 gene, an 0.8-kb fragment of its upstream DNA was fused to the lacZ gene and microinjected into one-cell murine embryos. Independent tgHST1 and tgHST2 transgenic mice strains were established, containing about 5-7 and 40-60 transgene copies/haploid genome, respectively. Enzyme assays in various tissues showed that transgene-encoded beta-galactosidase accumulates exclusively in testes of transgenic animals and cannot be detected until 16-17 days after birth. In-situ assays revealed that the enzyme accumulates mainly in pachytene primary spermatocytes. Our data complement previous studies on the endogenous rat hst70 and suggest that its 0.8-kb upstream region contains sufficient information to function as an active spermatogenesis-specific promoter.
Wisniewski
J
J
Department of Tumor Biology, Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland.
Malezewski
M
M
Krawczyk
Z
Z
Gedamu
L
L
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D051381:Rats; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D001616:beta-Galactosidase