title: GFP expression in Hydra: lessons from the particle gun.
abstract: The cnidarian Hydra is an important model organism to study pattern formation and tem cell differentiation. In the past, however, it has been difficult to study gene function in Hydra because the animals have hot been accessible to gene transfection studies, we have now developed a method to transiently express GFP-tagged proteins in Hydra using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression plasmid under the control of the Hydra actin promoter and a particle gun to introduce it into Hydra cell nuclei. We achieve strong transient GFP expression in a small but reproducible number of epithelial and interstitial cells. Implications for the use of this method to carry out single cell assays with GFP-tagged Hydra proteins are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 14, 80333 Munich, Germany. boettger@zi.biologie.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Böttger
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alexandrova
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cikala
authors.forename: Marsha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: Charles N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: David
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019470:Biolistics / Q000379:methods*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D015870:Gene Expression; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006829:Hydra / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins