Morphologic characterization of green fluorescent protein in embryonic, neonatal, and adult transgenic rats.
Transgenic (Tg) animals with reporter genes are useful models in which to study cell lineage and the process of differentiation into tissues. We developed the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-Tg rat, which is more suitable for transplantation and stem cell research because it is larger than mice. We found that marker gene expression was dependent on each organ and developmental stage. In this study we describe GFP expression in various tissues from embryonic, neonatal, and adult animals. GFP expression in brain, lung, liver, and islet tissues was restricted to early developmental stages, but it was continuously strong in the exocrine pancreas, kidney, and cardiac and skeletal muscles. The CAG promoter that was presumed to induce ubiquitous protein expression might be responsible for the differences in expression.
Takeuchi
Koichi
K
Department of Anatomy, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan.
Sereemaspun
Amornpan
A
Inagaki
Takeshi
T
Hakamata
Yoji
Y
Kaneko
Takashi
T
Murakami
Takashi
T
Takahashi
Masafumi
M
Kobayashi
Eiji
E
Ookawara
Shigeo
S
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005819:Genetic Markers; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D038081:Organogenesis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D005819:Genetic Markers; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins