title: Unstable expression of transgene is associated with the methylation of CAG promoter in the offspring from the same litter of homozygous transgenic mice.
abstract: Transgenic animals have been established for studying gene function, improving animals' production traits, and providing organ models for the exploration of human diseases. However, the stability of inheritance and transgene expression in transgenic animals has gained extensive attention. The unstable expression of transgene through DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) targeting to the methylation of transgenic DNA such as CAG promoter and Egfp coding region in homozygous transgenic animals is still unknown. In the present study, the offspring from the same litter of homozygous transgenic mice carrying ubiquitously expressed enhanced green fluorescence protein driven by CMV early enhancer/chicken β-actin (CAG) promoter was observed to have unstable expression of transgene Egfp, quantitative PCR, western blot and bisulfite sequencing were conducted to quantify the expressional characteristics and methylation levels in various tissues. The correlation between transgene expression and methylation was analyzed. We have found that transgene expression is dependent on the methylation of CAG promoter, but not Egfp coding region. We have also characterized the correlation between the methylation of CAG promoter and DNMT, and found that only Dnmt3b expression is correlated with the methylation of CAG promoter. In conclusion, Dnmt3b-related methylation of CAG promoter can inhibit the transgene expression and may result in the unstable expression of transgene in the offspring from the same litter of homozygous transgenic mice.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, Shan Dong, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qin-Kai
authors.initials: QK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Deng-Gao
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Qing-Jie
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000076123:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005838:Genotype; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006720:Homozygote; D008297:Male; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics*; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D000076123:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases; D000090205:DNA Methyltransferase 3A; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008780:Methyltransferases; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B; C000717967:DNMT3A protein, human; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein