Correct cell-type-specific expression of a fusion gene injected into sea urchin eggs

A fusion gene construct containing the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene under the control of CyIIIa actin gene regulatory sequences was injected into unfertilized eggs of the urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, and early pluteus stage embryos that developed from these eggs were fixed and sectioned for analysis by in situ hybridization. A [3H]RNA antisense probe for CAT mRNA was hybridized to 5-micron embryo sections. Autoradiographic signal denoting the presence of CAT mRNA was detected only over aboral ectoderm cells, in which the CyIIIa gene is normally expressed, and not over any recognizable regions of gut or oral ectoderm included in the same sections.     

Transplantation of the human insulin gene into fertilized mouse eggs

A circular recombinant plasmid composed of a 12.5 kb fragment of human DNA including the entire insulin gene and the 4.3 kb bacterial plasmid pBR322 was microinjected into fertilized C57BL/6 mouse eggs. 753 eggs were injected with 30000 gene copies in a volume of 1-2 pl; 379 eggs survived micromanipulation and were subsequently cultured to the blastocyst stage. From 282 embryos that were transferred into the uteri of pseudopregnant ICR/Swiss foster females, 60 fetuses and corresponding placentas could be recovered at day 16-19 of pregnancy. High molecular weight DNA was extracted from these tissues and was screened with radioactively labelled hybridization probes for the presence of the injected DNA sequences. By restriction endonuclease analysis in conjunction with Southern blot hybridization, we found that in two normally developed fetuses at day 18, the fetal and placental tissues contained the human insulin gene including the flanking regions and bacterial plasmid sequences. Our results indicate that the injected DNA integrated into the mouse genome within its pBR322 region and properly replicated with the host DNA during development. The intensities of the hybridization bands suggest that at least one copy of foreign plasmid DNA was present per cell in the two fetuses and their placentas.     

Somatic histone H1 microinjected into fertilized mouse eggs is transported into the pronuclei but does not disrupt subsequent preimplantation development

We injected somatic subtypes of histone H1 into newly fertilized mouse eggs, which do not naturally contain this chromosomal protein, and examined the fate of the injected protein and its effect on preimplantation development of recipient eggs. Rhodamine-labelled H1 injected into the cytoplasm of 53 eggs was transported into the pronuclei in 51 cases, and this nuclear accumulation could be detected within 15 min of injection. Unlabelled histone H1, which was detected using immunofluorescence, was also transported following microinjection to the pronuclei, where it colocalized with the chromatin and remained associated with the nuclei following cleavage to the two-cell stage. Nuclear accumulation of injected H1 was inhibited when injected eggs were incubated in the presence of drugs that prevent mitochondrial electron transport or glycolysis, which indicates that nuclear transport occurs through an energy-dependent process, as previously observed in tissue culture cells. To determine whether the presence of somatic H1 in early embryonic nuclei would influence subsequent development, fertilized eggs were injected with an approximately physiological quantity (1–5 pg) of somatic H1 or, as controls, with another small basic protein, cytochrome c. Fifty-three eggs were injected with cytochrome c, of which 51 divided to the two-cell stage, and 32 (60%) reached the blastocyst stage, after 5 days in culture. One hundred and eleven eggs were injected with somatic H1, of which 95 divided to the two-cell stage, and 53 (48%) reached the blastocyst stage, after 5 days in culture. The two groups did not differ statistically (X², P > 0.1) with respect to the fraction of injected embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage. These results show that, although mouse embryos lack the somatic subtypes of histone H1 until the four-cell stage of development, they are able to progress through preimplantation development when these subtypes are present beginning at the one-cell stage. This may imply that the distinctive chromatin composition that characterizes early embryos of a variety of species is not essential for early development in mammals. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Distribution, expression and germ line transmission of exogenous DNA sequences following microinjection into Xenopus laevis eggs

We analysed the fate, expression and germ line transmission of exogenous DNA which was microinjected into fertilized eggs of Xenopus laevis. DNA was injected into fertilized eggs within 1 h following fertilization. The injected DNA was dispersed around the site of injection and became localized to cleavage nuclei by stage 6. Injected DNA persisted in the tissues of 6- to 8-month-old frogs and exhibited a mosaic pattern of distribution with regard to the presence or absence and copy number between different tissues. We detected the exogenous DNA sequences in 60% of injected frogs. Restriction digestion analysis of this DNA suggested that it is not rearranged and was organized as head-to-tail multimers. The copy number varied from 2 to 30 copies/cell in various tissues of the same frog. Plasmid pSV2CAT which contains the prokaryotic gene coding for chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) enzyme linked to the SV40 early gene promoter was expressed in 50% of the animals containing the gene. The pattern of expression, however, varied between different animals and could not be correlated with copy number. We also showed that the exogenous DNA sequences were transmitted through the male germ line and that each offspring contained the gene integrated into a different region of the genome.     

125I和65Zn在大蟾蜍体内的吸收与分布

利用同位素示踪法研究了不同引入途径的125I和65Zn在大蟾蜍体内的吸收与分布。无论采用注射还是灌喂的方法,蟾蜍对125I的残留动态差别不大,都可分为快清除期和平台期,0～2d为快清除期,3～7d为平台期,经过了快清除期之后,残留的125I约为起始量的8%,并维持到实验结束。注射了65Zn后,0～7d的吸收动态曲线有所起伏,但波动很小,其波动范围为102.4%～114.48%。表明大部分的65Zn仍留在体内,几乎没有排出体外。注射65Zn的转移并不明显。但灌喂65Zn的动态变化则大些,而且转移明显。其活度曲线出现阶段性下降,有两个下降期,第一个下降期为4h～3d,第二个下降期为5～7d。说明灌喂组对65Zn的转移比注射组的活跃,但在实验的第7d残留率仍在60%以上。     

Gene silencing of the tick protective antigens, Bm86, Bm91 and subolesin, in the one-host tick Boophilus microplus by RNA interference

The use of RNA interference (RNAi) to assess gene function has been demonstrated in several three-host tick species but adaptation of RNAi to the one-host tick, Boophilus microplus, has not been reported. We evaluated the application of RNAi in B. microplus and the effect of gene silencing on three tick-protective antigens: Bm86, Bm91 and subolesin. Gene-specific double-stranded (dsRNA) was injected into two tick stages, freshly molted unfed and engorged females, and specific gene silencing was confirmed by real time PCR. Gene silencing occurred in injected unfed females after they were allowed to feed. Injection of dsRNA into engorged females caused gene silencing in the subsequently oviposited eggs and larvae that hatched from these eggs, but not in adults that developed from these larvae. dsRNA injected into engorged females could be detected by quantitative real-time RT-PCR in eggs 14 days from the beginning of oviposition, demonstrating that unprocessed dsRNA was incorporated in the eggs. Eggs produced by engorged females injected with subolesin dsRNA were abnormal, suggesting that subolesin may play a role in embryonic development. The injection of dsRNA into engorged females to obtain gene-specific silencing in eggs and larvae is a novel method which can be used to study gene function in tick embryogenesis.     

早期转基因兔胚的培养及外源基因滞留的研究

用显微注射法导入外源Smtpgh基因的早期免胚进行体外培养,并用PCR技术对单个胚中的外源基因进行了检测,以探讨SMTPGH基因在早期免胚中的滞留情况。研究结果表明早期转基因免胚在Tcl99+10％Fcs培养液中有75％发育到囊胚期;其外源基因在8细胞期前没有丢失,随后有逐渐丢失的现象。到胚胎的发育后期,其外源基因的滞留率接近于整合率。     

Determinants of embryonic stage at oviposition in the lizard Urosaurus ornatus

Relatively few squamate reptiles oviposit eggs with embryos at developmental stages greater than stage 30. To investigate potential proximate and ultimate bases of this phenomenon, we experimentally induced females of the lizard Urosaurus ornatus to retain their eggs past the normal time of oviposition (NTO). This procedure allowed us to determine whether the length of egg retention is fixed or facultative and to evaluate the effects of retention on embryos, hatchlings, and females. Females were able to retain eggs facultatively for at least 29 d past the NTO. However, retention resulted in arrested development of embryos; arrest occurred at stages 30-30.5, which is only slightly more advanced than that at the NTO (stage 29.5). Embryogenesis was reinitiated when eggs were removed from females and placed in incubation media. Hatching success of these eggs was high (87%), and incubation time was not affected by the number of days that development had been arrested. However, the snout-vent length and water content of hatchlings were negatively related to the length of retention, and they ran slower than hatchlings from control eggs obtained at the NTO. Retention of eggs past the NTO had no detectable effect on the body condition or running speeds of females. Developmental arrest and the adverse effects of retention on hatchling phenotype, if widespread among squamates, would account for the limited range of embryo stages at oviposition and act as major constraints on the evolution of viviparity.     

Effects of an organophosphorous pesticide, dichlorvos, on germ cells of the undifferentiated gonads of young quail embryos

In quail embryos, issued from eggs injected, before incubation, with oil solution of DDVP, the germ population was strongly reducted. However, at the 24 stage of embryonic development, the germ deficit is lower than at older stage (29). This deficit may be due to an inhibition of their gonadic colonizing capacity and an excessive rate of cell death.     

Confocal quantification of cis-regulatory reporter gene expression in living sea urchin

Quantification of GFP reporter gene expression at single cell level in living sea urchin embryos can now be accomplished by a new method of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Eggs injected with a tissue-specific GFP reporter DNA construct were grown to gastrula stage and their fluorescence recorded as a series of contiguous Z-section slices that spanned the entire embryo. To measure the depth-dependent signal decay seen in the successive slices of an image stack, the eggs were coinjected with a freely diffusible internal fluorescent standard, rhodamine dextran. The measured rhodamine fluorescence was used to generate a computational correction for the depth-dependent loss of GFP fluorescence per slice. The intensity of GFP fluorescence was converted to the number of GFP molecules using a conversion constant derived from CLSM imaging of eggs injected with a measured quantity of GFP protein. The outcome is a validated method for accurately counting GFP molecules in given cells in reporter gene transfer experiments, as we demonstrate by use of an expression construct expressed exclusively in skeletogenic cells.     

精核蛋白对小鼠1-细胞期受精卵转录的影响

应用一种非常敏感的、新的荧光方法 ,进行了精核蛋白对小鼠 1 细胞期受精卵转录影响的观察 .hCG注射后 18h的受精卵作为精核蛋白抗体显微注射对象 .镜下观察 ,非抗体注射与抗体注射的卵细胞荧光强度有明显差异 .根据荧光分光光度计测得的结果 ,抗体注射卵细胞的平均荧光强度值相当于抗体非注射的 2 2 8%,高 1 3倍 ,经t检验 (n =30 )得P <0 0 1,差别有显著性意义 .而非BSA注射和BSA注射卵细胞的镜下观察 ,则没有多大差异 ;测两组卵细胞的相对荧光强度值分别为 10 0 %和 115 %,t检验 (n =30 )得p >0 0 5 ,差别无统计学意义 .将α 鹅膏蕈碱与精核蛋白抗体等量混合后一起注射 ,卵细胞组间荧光的显著性差别不复存在 .实验结果表明 ,精核蛋白在小鼠 1 细胞期受精卵中起着转录抑制作用 .     

Temporally uncontrolled expression of linearized plasmid DNA which carries bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene withXenopus cardiacα-actin promoter after injection intoXenopus fertilized eggs

Summary Circular and linearized plasmid DNA which contained bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene connected toXenopus cardiac-actin promoter was injected intoXenopus fertilized eggs to study their expression in the course of early embryonic development. While circular DNA was slightly replicated and expressed only after embryos reached neurula stage, linearized DNA formed a large amount of concatemers, and was expressed as early as at blastula stage, or about 14 hr earlier than the time of circular DNA expression. Similarly earlier expression of linearized DNA occurred slightly more strongly when the DNA was injected into presumptive dorsal than in ventral blastomeres at 4-cell stage, and the expression was not affected when embryos were dissociated at blastula stage and their cells were cultured under reaggregating or nonreaggregating conditions. These results show that although circular actin-CAT fusion gene is expressed during development according to endogenous temporal control, the expression of linearized DNA deviates from such developmental control even though it contains intact promoter of-actin gene. It is then recommended that study of the control of the expression of exogenously-introduced DNA inXenopus fertilized eggs should be carried out with circular but not linearized plasmids.     

Insemination of immature sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) eggs

Nuclei from osmotically opened erythrocytes and erythroblasts were injected into nucleated or enucleated Xenopus laevis eggs. Although the cleavage pattern of the recipient eggs which started to divide was normal in about half of the cases, nuclei from erythrocytes injected into nucleated or enucleated eggs never promoted development beyond the early gastrula stage. In contrast, nuclei from osmotically opened erythroblasts injected into enucleated eggs promoted development to early tadpole stages (stages 29–36). Frequently, injection of osmotically broken erythroblasts injected into nonenucleated eggs gave rise to triploid larvae which all died at roughly the same early tadpole stages (29–36). Surprisingly, development did not proceed to the stage of advanced organogenesis (stages 44–47), which is easily reached by gynogenetic haploids: The presence of the haploid genome derived from the egg pronucleus did not significantly improve the developmental capacity. Embryos obtained by single injection of erythrocyte nuclei into nucleated eggs were unable to pass the gastrula stage. To invalidate the interpretation that the observed arrest in development was related to nuclear damage during injection of the recipient eggs, single unbroken erythrocytes and unbroken erythroblasts were transferred into nucleated and enucleated eggs. No cleavage was observed in both classes of eggs injected with unbroken erythrocytes. In contrast, erythroblasts were found to induce cleavage in the recipient eggs at a frequency of about 11%. To ascertain that the nucleus of unbroken erythroblasts participated in development, the 1-nucleolar marker was used. Diploid embryos with only one nucleolus present were found following injection of unbroken erythroblasts into enucleated eggs from 2nu females. Triploid 2nu embryos were detected following injection of (diploid) 1nu erythroblasts into nonenucleated eggs from 2nu females. The most advanced development stages reached by these embryos did not, however, differ from the best results found in the first class of experiments: Nuclei from erythroblasts injected undamaged into nucleated or enucleated eggs never developed into a normal tadpole. Serial transfer experiments were performed using normally gastrulating embryos which had developed, following the injection of 1nu unbroken erythroblasts into recipient eggs. These donors for serial transfer experiments were checked for the presence of the 1nu marker. In addition they had passed through a normally cleaving eight-cell stage. No improvement in developmental capacity as compared to first transfer experiments could be found.     

一种改进的显微注射用DNA片段的纯化方法

目的显微注射用DNA的纯度是影响转基因动物制备成功与否的重要因素,本文建立一种可行的适用于普通实验室的纯化DNA方法,替代普遍使用的试剂盒纯化方法。方法分别使用酚-氯仿多次抽提法及常规的凝胶提取试剂盒纯化含有蚓激酶基因的DNA片段,通过显微注射技术将纯化的DNA片段导入小鼠受精卵的原核,制备转基因小鼠。根据转基因实验的结果对两种方法进行比较。结果使用两种方法纯化DNA均能获得转基因小鼠。在DNA纯度及注射卵的存活率上,两种方法无明显差别;在移植卵的出生率及转基因阳性率上,抽提法优于试剂盒法。结论本实验建立的抽提方法可以替代试剂盒方法纯化显微注射用DNA片段,在降低实验成本、简化实验条件及提高转基因阳性率方面具有优势。     

Introduction and Expression of Recombinant Genes in Ascidian Embryos

In order to examine the expression of exogenous genes introduced into ascidian eggs, two recombinant plasmids pmiwZ and pHrMA4aCAT were microinjected into the cytoplasm of fertilized eggs of Ciona savignyi and Halocynthia roretzi , respectively. The plasmid pmiwZ contains the coding sequence of bacterial β-galactosidase gene ( lac-Z ) fused with animal gene promoters, while pHrMA4aCAT was constructed by fusing about 1.4-kb long 5' flanking region of H. roretzi muscle actin gene HrMA4a with bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene ( CAT ). Injection of approximately 160 pl of 10 μg/ml pmiwZ DNA into Ciona eggs did not affect the embryogenesis, although introduction of the same volume of 30 μg/ml pmiwZ DNA resulted in abnormal development of injected eggs. When the expression of lac-Z was examined by histochemical detection of the enzyme activity, the expression was evident in the early tailbud embryos and later stage embryos, and larvae, irrespective of linear or circular form of the plasmid. The enzyme activity appeared in various cell-types including epidermis, nervous system, endoderm, mesenchyme, notochord, and muscle. In contrast, when pHrMA4aCAT was introduced into Halocynthia eggs and the appearance of CAT protein was examined later by the anti-CAT antibody, the CAT expression was restricted to muscle cells. These results indicate that the recombinant genes introduced into ascidian eggs could express during embryogenesis and that the 1.4-kb long 5' flanking region of HrMA4a contains regulatory sequences enough for the appropriate spatial and temporal expression of the gene.     

Tetracycline-dependent expression of the human erythropoietin gene in transgenic chickens

A critical problem in the production of transgenic animals is the uncontrolled constitutive expression of the foreign gene, which occasionally results in serious physiological disorders in the transgenic animal. In this study, we report successful production of transgenic chickens that express the human erythropoietin (hEPO) gene under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter. A recombinant Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV)-based retrovirus vector encapsidated with vesicular stomatitis virus G glycoprotein (VSV-G) was injected beneath the blastoderm of unincubated chicken embryos (stage X). Out of 198 injected eggs, 15 chicks hatched after 21 days of incubation and 14 hatched chicks expressed the vector-encoded hEPO gene when fed doxycycline, a tetracycline derivative, without any significant physiological dysfunctions. The expression of hEPO reverted to the pre-induction state by removing doxycycline from the diet. The biological activity of the hEPO produced in the transgenic chickens was comparable to commercially available CHO cell-derived hEPO. Successful germline transmission of the transgene was also confirmed in G1 transgenic chicks produced from crossing G0 transgenic roosters with non-transgenic hens. Tetracycline-inducible expression of the hEPO gene was also confirmed in the blood and eggs of the transgenic chickens.     

Production of transgenic miniature pigs by pronuclear microinjection

Miniature pig is an attractive animal for a wide range of research fields, such as medicine and pharmacology, because of its small size, the possibility of breeding it under minimum environmental controls and the physiology that is potentially similar to that of human. Although transgenic technology is useful for the analysis of gene function and for the development of model animals for various diseases, there have not yet been any reports on producing transgenic miniature pig. This study is the first successful report concerning the production of transgenic miniature pig by pronuclear microinjection. The huntingtin gene cloned from miniature pig, which is a homologue of candidate gene for Huntington's disease, connected with rat neuron-specific enolase promoter region, was injected into a pronucleus of fertilized eggs with micromanipulator. The eggs were transferred into the oviduct of recipient miniature pigs, whose estrus cycles were previously synchronized with a progesterone analogue. A total of 402 injected eggs from 171 donors were transferred to 23 synchronized recipients. Sixteen of them maintained pregnancy and delivered 65 young, and one resulted in abortion. Five of the 68 offspring (three of which were aborted) were determined to have transgene by PCR and Southern analysis. The overall rate of transgenic production was 1.24% (transgenic/injected eggs). This study provides the first success and useful information regarding production of transgenic miniature pig for biomedical research.     

PKA-regulated phosphorylation status of S149 and S321 sites of CDC25B inhibits mitosis of fertilized mouse eggs

To further test whether protein kinase A (PKA) can affect the mitotic cell cycle, one-cell stage mouse embryos at S phase (22 h after hCG injection) were incubated in M16 medium containing various concentrations of H-89, a PKA inhibitor. With increasing concentrations of H-89 (0-50 μmol/L), the G(2) phase of eggs was decreased and the cleavage rate was accelerated. A concentration of 40 μmol/L H-89 led to all of the mouse eggs entering the M phase of mitosis. Furthermore, to study the role of PKA in regulating the phosphorylation status of S149 and S321 sites of cell division cycle 25B (CDC25B) on one-cell stage fertilized mouse eggs, pBSK-CDC25B-WT, pBSK-CDC25B-S149A, pBSK-CDC25B-S321A and pBSK-CDC25B-S149A/S321A were transcribed into mRNAs in vitro, then mRNAs were microinjected into S phase of mouse fertilized eggs and cultured in M16 medium pretreated with H-89. Then, the cleavage of fertilized eggs, maturation promoting factor (MPF) activity and phosphorylation status of CDC2-Tyr15 were observed. In the presence of 40 μmol/L H-89, the cleavage rate of fertilized eggs in CDC25B-S/A-mRNAs and CDC25B-WT-mRNA injected groups was significantly higher than that in the control groups, and the peak of MPF activity appeared in the CDC25B-S/A-mRNAs and CDC25B-WT-mRNA injected groups earlier than that in the control groups. CDC2-Tyr15 phosphorylation state was consistent with MPF activity. In conclusion, the present study suggests that PKA regulates the early development of mouse embryos by phosphorylation of S149 and S321 of CDC25B, which plays an important role in the regulation of G(2)/M transition in the mitotic cell cycle of fertilized mouse eggs.