非转座子载体介导的稳定转化家蚕BmN细胞表达人粒细胞-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子

为了建立非转座子载体介导的持续表达外源基因的转化家蚕BmN细胞系,将家蚕核型多角体病毒极早期基因(ie-1)启动子控制的人粒细胞-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子(hGM-CSF)基因的表达盒克隆至pIZT/V5-His,获得重组载体pIZT-IE-hGM-CSF,该载体转染家蚕BmN细胞后,通过博莱霉素(Zeocin)筛选获得了稳定转化细胞系IE-hGM-CSF。转基因细胞基因组经PCR鉴定,成功检测到ie-hGM-CSF,Western blotting分析结果显示转化细胞表达的重组hGM-CSF的大小为22kDa,ELISA检测结果显示hGM-CSF在转化细胞系里的表达水平大约为2814.7pg/106个细胞。     

转座子介导的多角体基因表达及提高病毒粒子的感染效率

现行的杆状病毒表达外源基因的方法是将外源基因取代病毒中的多角体基因,因而得到的重组杆状病毒感染活体时不能经口感染,只能进行针刺注射,效率低且易引起活体感染其他疾病。将家蚕核型多角体病毒(Bombyx mor inucleopolyhedrovirus,BmNPV)中的多角体基因(polyhedrin,poly)及其启动子片段克隆到转座子载体pigA3GFP中,将其与辅助质粒pHA3PIG利用脂质体介导法导入家蚕细胞中,经过多次筛选获得稳定的转基因家蚕细胞。之后先将BmPAK6(含LacZ)及BmGFP(含GFP)重组病毒分别感染转基因细胞,再将得到的重组病毒经口感染5龄家蚕幼虫。结果显示,重组杆状病毒可以经口感染家蚕幼虫。这些研究表明来自于转基因家蚕细胞的poly基因表达产物可以提高重组杆状病毒经口感染家蚕率,为解决杆状病毒表达系统中重组病毒不能经口感染家蚕幼虫的问题提供新思路。     

家蚕转基因方法的初步研究

为建立家蚕转基因研究中切实可行的外源基因导入方法、分别用显微注射法、精子介导法、脂质体法和压力渗透法将含有绿色荧光蛋白(gfp)基因的转座子载体和辅助质粒转入到家蚕的受精卵中。在后代中检测到发绿色荧光的蚕茧,用PCR方法检测到后代个体染色体中含有gfp基因,并比较了上述几种方法的优缺点,为进一步进行转基因家蚕的研究奠定了基础。     

Tgf2转座子多克隆位点的克隆与表达

以金鱼pTgf2-EF1α-EGFP转座子为基础,构建含有多克隆位点(Multiple cloning sites,MCS)序列以及外源目的基因肌醇-3-磷酸合成酶(Myo-inositol-3-phosphate synthase,MIPS)的重组表达载体并注射到斑马鱼1-2期受精卵,检测重组表达载体pTgf2-EF1α-MCS-EGFP和pTgf2-EF1α-MCS-MIPS-EGFP在斑马鱼中绿色荧光蛋白基因(EGFP)的表达情况以及外源基因MIPS在斑马鱼体内的整合情况。荧光观察结果显示,两个重组载体均不影响EGFP的表达,只是表达强度存在一定差异,表明对Tgf2转座子的改造是有效的。转基因斑马鱼PCR检测结果显示,靶基因MIPS的编码区能够完整地整合到斑马鱼基因组中,整合效率达31.4%。重组表达载体的成功构建显示金鱼Tgf2转座子可以介导外源基因在斑马鱼中的表达,为以后Tgf2转座子在鱼类基因功能研究方面奠定了基础。     

利用精子介导法向蚕卵导入外源基因的研究

为建立家蚕转基因中切实可行、操作简便的外源基因导入方法,进行了精子介导法探索,以精子介导法的三种方式向家蚕导入所构建质粒pFbGFP,并通过PCR扩增和DNA印迹等手段,已连续两代从基因组DNA检测到导入外源基因GFP的存在,其中的一种导入方式到第二代阳性率约30% .结果表明该法可有效进行家蚕转基因的外源基因导入.     

哺乳动物N-糖基化途径中关键酶唾液酸合酶和CMP-唾液酸合成酶基因在转基因家蚕中的表达

对昆虫的N-糖基化途径进行修饰改变是扩展昆虫蛋白表达系统应用范围的重要途径。本研究利用基于piggyBac转座子的家蚕Bombyx mori转基因技术表达昆虫所缺乏的哺乳类糖基化途径中的关键基因, 构建了可以同时表达小鼠Mus musculus唾液酸合酶和小鼠CMP-唾液酸合成酶两个基因的piggyBac表达载体, 选用家蚕肌动蛋白A3启动子控制基因的表达, 并导入3×P3启动子控制下的增强绿色荧光蛋白EGFP作为分子标记。在得到的G1代转基因家蚕中对转入的基因进行了分子水平的鉴定和分析, 为在家蚕这种模式昆虫中模拟哺乳类糖基化途径奠定了基础。     

成骨细胞特异性表达Cre重组酶转基因小鼠的建立

构建了含有骨钙素基因启动子、Cre重组酶基因和人生长激素基因polyA的转基因载体pOC-Cre, 以显微注射的方法将4.6 kb的转基因片段OC-Cre导入小鼠受精卵。16只子代小鼠中经PCR和Southern杂交鉴定, 有2只小鼠携带外源基因, 整合率为12.5%。为了检测OC-Cre在转基因小鼠中表达的组织特异性, 将转基因首建者小鼠与基因组上携带有LoxP位点的条件性Smad4基因敲除小鼠交配, PCR结果显示, 仅在子代纯合型小鼠骨组织基因组中扩增出了Cre介导重组后的片段。将OC-Cre转基因小鼠与ROSA26报告小鼠交配, 利用LacZ染色对双转基因阳性子代小鼠进行检测, 结果显示Cre重组酶在成骨细胞中特异性表达并介导ROSA基因座LoxP位点间的重组。所有这些结果说明：所建立的OC-Cre转基因小鼠在成骨细胞中特异性表达Cre重组酶, 并能在体内介导成骨细胞基因组上LoxP位点间的重组, 是一种理想的研制成骨细胞特异性基因敲除小鼠的工具小鼠。     

piggyBac转座子介导的转基因叉尾斗鱼的构建

为探讨piggyBac转座子在鱼类动物中应用的可能性,以包含家蚕(Bombyx mori)肌动蛋白3启动子驱动的增强型绿色荧光蛋白(enhance green fluorescent protein,EGFP)基因的piggyBac质粒为载体,以及一个包含piggyBac转座酶的辅助质粒,采用显微注射的方法将其导入叉尾斗鱼(Macropodusopercularis)受精卵中,利用PCR技术证实了piggyBac转座子能够介导EGFP基因进入叉尾斗鱼基因组,并能够稳定遗传到下一代,符合孟德尔遗传规律。EGFP基因遗传到G1代的阳性鱼占交配鱼比率,即外源基因整合率为12.30%。实验证明,piggyBac质粒有可能成为水产动物转基因实验的新型载体。     

转基因家蚕丝腺组织和转化家蚕培养细胞表达hIGF-I

为实现在家蚕培养细胞和家蚕丝腺组织中表达人胰岛素样生长因子（hIGF-I）基因,以家蚕丝胶基因启动子（Pser-1）驱动hIGF-I基因,构建了带有家蚕杆状病毒ie-1启动子（Pie-1）控制的neo基因表达盒的转基因载体pigA3GFP—hIGF-ie—neo．在可表达转座酶的辅助质粒存在下,分别转染BmN培养细胞,以700～800μg/mL的G418筛选,获得了稳定转化细胞系．Westernblotting分析可检测到hIGF-I的特异性条带,ELISA检测结果显示,hIGF-I在5-100个细胞中的表达水平约7800Pg．通过反向PCR分析表明,在转化细胞中外源DNA可通过随机整合或按照piggyBac特定的靶位点序列TTAA插入细胞基因组．转基因载体pigA3GFP-hIGF—ie-neo通过精子介导法导入蚕卵,利用neo,加基因的双重筛选,经过PCR和点杂交鉴定,获得了2头转基因家蚕．ELISA检测结果显示,在G1代hIGF-I在每克中部丝腺组织中的表达水平为2440Pg左右．     

抗人CD28单链抗体基因的构建及在BmN细胞和家蚕中的表达

采用TP-PCR法,将抗人CD28单链抗体的重、轻链可变区基因和人工设计的昆虫杆状病毒多角体蛋白基因(ph)偏好的连接肽序列,拼接成抗人CD28单链抗体(抗CD28-ScFv)基因,并将其插入昆虫杆状病毒转移载体pBacPAK8的ph启动子,构建成重组转移载体pBacPAK8/CD28-ScFv。为便于表达产物的纯化,在CD28-ScFv的C端增加了6×Histag序列。通过脂质体介导法将重组转移载体pBacPAK8/CD28-ScFv和线性化病毒Bm-BacPAK6共转染BmN细胞,经空斑分析和蓝白斑筛选,获得重组杆状病毒Bm-BacPAK6 CD28-ScFv。将重组病毒Bm-BacPAK6 CD28-ScFv感染BmN细胞和5龄家蚕,SDS-PAGE和Western Blotting分析表明,在分子量约为28kD处有一表达带。BmN细胞的表达始于24h,表达峰在72h,96h时表达量开始下降,而5龄家蚕的表达始于48h,表达峰在120h。结果证明,抗人CD28单链抗体基因在BmN细胞和家蚕中得到了特异性表达。上述研究成果为抗人CD28基因工程抗体的研制奠定了基础。     

Germ line transformation of the silkworm, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombyx mori</Emphasis>, using the transposable element <Emphasis Type="Italic">Minos</Emphasis>

We investigated the use of Minos as a vector for transgenesis in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We first constructed a vector plasmid with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused with the silkworm cytoplasmic actin gene (A3) promoter, and a helper plasmid with the Minos transposase gene controlled by the same A3 promoter. Injection of the vector and helper plasmid DNA into silkworm eggs produced transgenic animals in the following generation. The efficiency of transgenic silkworm production using this method was much lower than that obtained using piggyBac-mediated germ line transformation. However, >40-fold increase in the efficiency of producing transgenic silkworms was obtained using an in vitro synthesized source of Minos transposase mRNA. We conclude that the Minos transposon is a useful vector for construction of transgenic silkworms, particularly when in vitro synthesized mRNA is used. This is the first report showing that Minos can be used as a vector for germ-line transformation in lepidopteran insects.     

Effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">BBX-B8</Emphasis> overexpression on development,body weight,silk protein synthesis and egg diapause of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombyx mori</Emphasis>

Bombyxin (BBX) is an insulin-like peptide exists in the silkworm Bombyx mori. Our previous studies on the effects of inhibiting BBX-B8 expression found that BBX-B8 is important for the development of organ, reproduction and trehalose metabolism in the silkworms. In this paper, we investigated the expression profile of the BBX-B8 gene and effect of BBX-B8 overexpression on the development, body weight, silk protein synthesis and egg diapause of B. mori to further understand BBX-B8 functions. BBX-B8 gene expression could be detected in the brains, midguts, anterior silkglands, ovaries, testes, fat bodies, hemolymph, malpighian tubules and embryos by RT-PCR, however it was mainly expressed in the brain. Western blots showed that the change in BBX-B8 expression was not obvious in the brain of 1- to 4-day-old larvae of fifth instar silkworms, but expression increased substantially at 5- to 6-day-old larvae of fifth instar silkworms. Transgenic silkworms overexpressing BBX-B8 were obtained by introducing non-transposon transgenic vector pIZT-B8 containing a BBX-B8 gene driven by Orgyia pseudotsugata nucleopolyhedrovirus IE2 promoter into the genome. Development duration of the transgenic silkworms was delayed by 2.5–3.5 days. Cocoon shell weight of transgenic silkworms was reduced by 4.79 % in females and 7.44 % in males, pupal weight of transgenic silkworms was reduced 6.75 % in females and 13.83 % in males compared to non-transgenic silkworms, and 5.56–14.29 % of transgenic moths laid nondiapausing eggs. All results indicated that BBX-B8 plays an important role in the development, silk protein synthesis and egg diapause of silkworm.     

Expression of the hIGF-I gene driven by the Fhx/P25 promoter in the silk glands of germline silkworm and transformed BmN cells

The expression of the human insulin-like growth factor (hIGF-I) gene driven by the Fhx/P25 promoter in the silk glands of transgenic silkworms (Bombyx mori) and in transformed silkworm cells, was achieved using BmN cells transfected with a piggyBac vector, pigA3GFP-Fhx/P25-hIGF-ie-neo containing a neomycin-resistance gene (neo), a green fluorescent protein gene (gfp), an hIGF-I gene, and a helper plasmid containing the piggyBac transposase sequence under the control of the B. mori actin 3 (A3) promoter. We selected stably transformed BmN cells expressing hIGF-I using the antibiotic G418. The expression level of hIGF-I was about 450 pg in 3 × 10(6) cells, determined by ELISA. The piggyBac vector was transferred into the silkworm eggs using sperm-mediated gene transfer. The expression level of hIGF-I per gram fresh posterior silk glands of G4 transgenic silkworms was approx. 150 ng.     

Expression of hGM-CSF in silk glands of transgenic silkworms using gene targeting vector

The silk gland of the silkworm is a highly specialized organ that has the wonderful ability to synthesize and secrete silk protein. To express human granucyto-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) in the posterior silk glands of gene-targeted silkworms, a targeting vector pSK-FibL-L-A3GFP-PH-GMCSF-LPA-FibL-R was constructed, harboring a 1.2 kb portion of the left homogenous arm (FibL-L), a 0.5 kb portion of the right homogenous arm (FibL-R), fibroin H-chain-promoter-driven hGM-CSF and silkworm actin 3-promoter-driven gfp. The targeting vector was then introduced into the eggs of silkworm, and the transgenic silkworms were verified by PCR and DNA hybridization after being screened for the gfp gene. Western blotting analysis using an antibody against hGM-CSF demonstrated a specific band with a molecular weight of 22 kD in the silk glands of the G3 generation transgenic silkworms. The level of expression of hGM-CSF in the posterior silk glands of the G3 generation transgenic silkworms was approximately 2.70 ng/g of freeze-dried powdered posterior silk gland. These results showed that the heterologous gene could be introduced into the silkworm genome and expressed successfully. Further more, the exogenous genes existing in the G5 transgenic silkworm identified by PCR confirmed its integration stability. In addition, the silk glands containing expressed hGM-CSF performed the function of significantly increasing leukocyte count of CY-treated mice in a time-and-dose-dependent manner.     

Generation of transgenic silkworms for production of erythropoietin in Bombyx mori

There have been many attempts to generate various essential proteins using transformed E. coli systems. However, prokaryote systems are not equipped with the protein maturation mechanisms necessary to generate eukaryotic proteins. In this sense, among the eukaryotes, silkworms have major merits in overcoming the difficulties. Such protein maturation mechanisms are available in silkworms. In this study, a transgenic silkworm producing rhEPO in the cocoon was generated and purified. Specifically, we constructed a transgenic silkworm using a vector system that could be controlled to the next generation. To accomplish this, we microinjected the system into eggs laid during the preblastoderm stage. The rhEPO was then purified from transgenic silkworm cocoons using a Con A affinity column. The biological activity of rhEPO isolated from the cocoon of transgenic silkworms was then assessed in a cell culture system using an EPO-dependent cell line, F-36E. Next, PCR analysis was used to demonstrate that stable gene expression can occur in the embryos of the silkworm, Bombyx. mori. Transgenic silkworms were then selected and observed to ensure that the transgenic silkworm was maintained and transmitted to their progeny. The rhEPO was subsequently purified from the transgenic silkworm cocoon and the electrophoretic pattern of the purified rhEPO revealed a protein band with a molecular weight of approximately 20 kDa. A total of 3 mg of rhEPO was eluted from 10 g of cocoons. The proliferation of F36E cells for 25 ng/ml rhEPO was 1.32, while the proliferation for 2.5 IU/ml hEPO was 1.32. The proliferation of these cells could be induced by commercial hEPO, as well as by rhEPO from transgenic silkworm cocoons. An in vivo test of mice treated with rhEPO revealed relatively high RBC values when compared to normal mice. These results indicated that purified glycosylated EPO from transgenic silkworms had biological activities. Overall, the transgenic silkworm technique will be very useful for the large scale production of proteins for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.     

Expression of hIGF-I in the silk glands of transgenic silkworms and in transformed silkworm cells

To express human insulin-like growth factor-I (hIGF-I) in transformed Bombyx mori cultured cells and silk glands, the transgenic vector pigA3GFP-hIGF-ie-neo was constructed with a neomycin resistance gene driven by the baculovirus ie-1 promoter, and with the hIGF-I gene under the control of the silkworm sericin promoter Ser-1. The stably transformed BmN cells expressing hIGF-I were selected by using the antibiotic G418 at a final concentration of 700—800 μg/mL after the BmN cells were transfected with the piggyBac vector and the helper plasmid. The specific band of hIGF-I was detected in the transformed cells by Western blot. The expression level of hIGF-I, determined by ELISA, was about 7800 pg in 5×10⁵ cells. Analysis of the chromosomal insertion sites by inverse PCR showed that exogenous DNA could be inserted into the cell genome randomly or at TTAA target sequence specifically for piggyBac element transposition. The transgenic vector pigA3GFP-hIGF-ie-neo was transferred into the eggs using sperm-mediated gene transfer. Finally, two transgenic silkworms were obtained after screening for the neo and gfp genes and verified by PCR and dot hybridization. The expression level of hIGF-I determined by ELISA was about 2440 pg/g of silk gland of the transgenic silkworms of the G1 generation.     

Production of an active feline interferon in the cocoon of transgenic silkworms using the fibroin H-chain expression system

We constructed the fibroin H-chain expression system to produce recombinant proteins in the cocoon of transgenic silkworms. Feline interferon (FeIFN) was used for production and to assess the quality of the product. Two types of FeIFN fusion protein, each with N- and C-terminal sequences of the fibroin H-chain, were designed to be secreted into the lumen of the posterior silk glands. The expression of the FeIFN/H-chain fusion gene was regulated by the fibroin H-chain promoter domain. The transgenic silkworms introduced these constructs with the piggyBac transposon-derived vector, which produced the normal sized cocoons containing each FeIFN/H-chain fusion protein. Although the native-protein produced by transgenic silkworms have almost no antiviral activity, the proteins after the treatment with PreScission protease to eliminate fibroin H-chain derived N- and C-terminal sequences from the products, had very high antiviral activity. This H-chain expression system, using transgenic silkworms, could be an alternative method to produce an active recombinant protein and silk-based biomaterials.     

Analysis of transgenic silkworms producing insulin-like growth factor-I in Bombyx mori

Silkworms contain a powerful and effective fibroin promoter, which controls the expression of fibroin, a silk protein. The fibroin promoter and well-known characteristics of silkworm, the application of transgenic technique to silkworm will provide an excellent opportunity to mass-produce biomolecules. In this study, the production of recombinant human insulin like growth factor-I (rhIGF-I) in the silkworm system was designed. The method makes use of the microinjection technique and P element vector to transfer foreign genes into the chromosomes. We constructed the expression vector using the fibroin gene promoter and P element vector containing IGF-I gene (pFpIGF-I). We then microinjected this vector into eggs, and through PCR screening, transgenic silkworms were selected. We isolated and purified rhIGF-I from silkworm cocoons, returning a concentration of rhIGF-I of about 1,300 ng/g from transgenic silkworm cocoons. In a comparison of transgenic silkworm rhIGF-I and colostral IGF-I on cell proliferation, colostral IGF-I was better able to increase the proliferation rate of the cell line relative to the transgenic silkworm rhIGF-I, and showed a similar cell proliferation pattern. The anti-cancer effects of transgenic silkworm rhIGF-I were higher than that of colostral IGF-I on HeLa and SNU-C1 cancer cells. These results confirmed the construction of new transgenic silkworm strains producing rhIGF-I.     

Effects of egt gene transfer on the development of Bombyx mori

This study investigated the effects of gain of ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase (EGT) gene function mutation on the development of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. A novel piggyBac-derived plasmid containing the egt gene from B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) driven by a heat-shock protein (hsp) 23.7 promoter, with a neomycin-resistance gene (neo) controlled by the BmNPV ie-1 promoter and a green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) under the control of the B. mori actin 3 (A3) promoter was constructed. The vector was transferred into silkworm eggs by sperm-mediated gene transfer. Transgenic silkworms were produced after screening for neo and gfp genes and gene transfer was verified by polymerase chain reaction, dot-blot hybridization and western blotting. The hatching rate of G1 generation silkworm eggs was about 60% lower than that of normal silkworm eggs. The duration of the G1 generation larval period was extended, and the G2 generation pupal stage lasted four days longer than that in non-transgenic silkworms. The ecdysone blood level in G2 silkworms in the third instar molting stage was reduced by up to 90%. These results show that EGT suppressed transgenic silkworm molting, and that egt expression in egt-transgenic silkworms resulted in arrest of metamorphosis from pupae to moths.     

Highly efficient and inducible DNA excision in transgenic silkworms using the FLP/<Emphasis Type="Italic">FRT</Emphasis> site-specific recombination system

Efficient and inducible recombinase-mediated DNA excision is an optimal technology for automatically deleting unwanted DNA sequences, including selection marker genes. However, this methodology has yet to be established in transgenic silkworms. To achieve efficient and inducible FLP recombinase-mediated DNA excision in transgenic silkworms, one transgenic target strain (TTS) containing an FRT-flanked silkworm cytoplasmic actin 3 gene promoter (A3)-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression cassette, as well as two different types of FLP recombinase expression helper strains were generated. Then, the FLP recombinase was introduced into the TTS silkworms by pre-blastoderm microinjection and sexual hybridization. Successful recombinase-mediated deletion of the A3-EGFP expression cassette was observed in the offspring of the TTS, and the excision efficiencies of the FLP expression vector and FLP mRNA pre-blastoderm microinjection were 2.38 and 13.3 %, respectively. The excision efficiencies resulting from hybridization between the TTS and the helper strain that contained a heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70)-FLP expression cassette ranged from 32.14 to 36.67 % after heat shock treatment, while the excision efficiencies resulting from hybridization between the TTS and the helper strain containing the A3-FLP expression cassette ranged from 97.01 to 100 %. These results demonstrate that the FLP/FRT system can be used to achieve highly efficient and inducible post-integration excision of unwanted DNA sequences in transgenic silkworms in vivo. Our present study will facilitate the development and application of the FLP/FRT system for the functional analysis of unknown genes, and establish the safety of transgenic technologies in the silkworm and other lepidopteran species.