title: Validating the hen as a bioreactor for the production of exogenous proteins in egg white.
abstract: Increased demand for the production of human biopharmaceuticals in transgenic organisms has led to an intensive effort to develop the hen as a bioreactor producing exogenous proteins in egg white via transgenesis. To date, however, robust methods for transgenic modification of the avian genome have been lacking. We have used a replication-defective retroviral vector derived from avian leukosis virus (ALV) to generate transgenic chickens expressing bacterial beta-lactamase secreted into serum and egg whites through several generations. Expression was driven by the ubiquitous cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. Here we describe results from a transgenic lineage (Harvey et al., 2002a,b) in which (1) the transgene was stably transmitted from a G1 founder male (5657) through several generations without silencing, (2) the protein was biologically active, and (3) the level of expression in egg whites was doubled in a G3 homozygote.
authors.affiliation: AviGenics, Inc., Georgia BioBusiness Center, 111 Riverbend Road, Athens, Georgia 30605, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ivarie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D019149:Bioreactors; D002645:Chickens; D004529:Egg White; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D010063:Ovum; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012190:Retroviridae