Genetic inactivation of the allograft inflammatory factor-1 locus.
Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (Aif-1) is a 17 kDa EF hand motif-bearing protein expressed primarily in developing spermatids and cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage. Increased Aif-1 expression has been identified in clinically important conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, endometriosis, and transplant-associated arteriosclerosis. Largely similar gene products arising from the same locus are known as ionized Ca(2+) binding adapter-1 (Iba1), microglial response factor-1 (MRF1), and daintain; Iba1 in particular has emerged as a histologic marker of microglia and their activation in pathologic CNS conditions, including the response to facial nerve axotomy and stroke, uveitis, and experimental autoimmune neuritis and encephalomyelitis. Nevertheless, how aif-1 gene products affect cellular function is only partly understood, and the physiologic significance of these products for male fertility, immune system development, and inflammation has not been described. To permit such investigations, we generated a mouse line with targeted deletion of the coding regions of the aif-1 gene. Here we report that mice lacking Aif-1 breed well and show normal post-natal growth, but show resistance to disease in a model of collagen-induced arthritis. We anticipate that these mice will be useful for studies of Aif-1 function in a variety of immune and inflammatory disease models.
Department of Medicine (Cardiovascular Division), Wilf Family Cardiovascular Research Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10461; Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10461.
Isabel
I
Casimiro
Prameladevi
P
Chinnasamy
Nicholas E S
NE
Sibinga
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020868:Gene Silencing; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D059765:Homologous Recombination; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D023421:Models, Animal; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism
C491049:Aif1 protein, mouse; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins
Aif-1; Daintain; Iba1; MRF-1; macrophage; spermatid