Expression of recombinant human factor VIII in milk of several generations of transgenic rabbits

Transgenic founder rabbits carrying a gene construct consisting of a 2.5 kb murine whey acidic protein promoter (mWAP), 7.2 kb of the human clotting factor VIII (hFVIII) cDNA and 4.6 kb of 3′ flanking sequences of mWAP gene were crossed for three generations. All transgenic animals showed stable transgene transmission. Transgenic females showed high level of recombinant hFVIII (rhFVIII) mRNA expression in biopsed mammary gland tissues, while marginal expression of rhFVIII mRNA was observed in the spleen, lung and brain. No adverse effects of ectopic expression on the physiology of the rabbits were observed. Expression was not detected in the liver, kidney, heart and skeletal muscle. In transgenic females derived from three generations, rhFVIII protein was secreted from the mammary gland of lactating females, as shown by Western blotting. Biological activity of rhFVIII protein, as revealed in clotting assays was ranged from 0.012 to 0.599 IU/ml corresponding to 1.2% and 59.9% of the hFVIII level in normal human plasma. No apparent effect of secreted rhFVIII on the milk performance of rabbits was observed. Our results confirm the possibility of producing a significant amount of a biologically active rhFVIII in the mammary gland of established transgenic rabbit lines.     

Expression and characterization of functional recombinant bovine follicle-stimulating hormone (boFSHalpha/beta) produced in the milk of transgenic rabbits

Bovine follicle-stimulating hormone (boFSH) is a heterodimeric glycoprotein that belongs to the pituitary gonadotropins. Bioactive FSH is composed of alpha and beta subunits which require extensive N-glycosylation and sialylation. The mammary gland of transgenic livestock is an attractive source for the synthesis of post-translationally modified proteins. Two mammary gland-specific gene constructs with the cDNA for the boFSH alpha (boFSHalpha) and beta (boFSHbeta) subunits controlled by bovine alpha-s1 casein regulatory sequences were co-microinjected into fertilized rabbit oocytes. Two FSHalpha/FSHbeta double transgenic rabbit lines were established. The transgene expression was strictly lactation and mammary gland specific. Protein analysis revealed the presence of the boFSH heterodimer in the milk of transgenic rabbits showing a molecular weight similar to that of purified pituitary gland derived boFSH (boFSH-P). Subunit specific antibodies detected both polypeptides with the expected molecular sizes. Biochemical characterization demonstrated the expected isoelectric points of the recombinant boFSH. The presence of the post-translationally added terminal sialic acid residues was indicated by wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) lectin Western blotting. The biological activity of the recombinant mammary gland produced boFSH was determined using a FSH-dependent reporter cell line. The bioactivity of the recombinant boFSH was comparable to that of purified boFSH-P.     

牛乳铁蛋白肽转基因小鼠的构建

目的:探讨牛乳铁蛋白肽在转基因鼠乳汁中的表达及其抑菌活性。方法:将实验室构建并保存的包含山羊β-酪蛋白基因启动子和牛乳铁蛋白肽基因的乳腺特异表达载体PI-bcp-LfcinB,用Xho I和Nru I双酶切,得到含有全部表达盒的显微注射DNA片段,采用常规显微注射技术获得转基因小鼠。并通过对泌乳期转基因雌鼠乳腺组织的RT-PCR检测,确定了牛乳铁蛋白肽在mRNA水平的表达,同时利用琼脂板扩散法检测了转基因鼠乳汁中表达产物的抑菌活性。结果:获得了牛乳铁蛋白肽转基因小鼠,且转基因小鼠乳汁中能够表达具有抑菌活性的牛乳铁蛋白肽。结论:通过转基因动物乳腺可以获得具有生物活性的牛乳铁蛋白肽,为进一步研究抗菌肽转基因牛、培育抗乳房炎奶牛新品种以及通过建立转基因动物生物反应器进行抗菌肽的大量生产奠定了基础。     

乳腺生物反应器表达载体的检测方法

乳腺生物反应器研究和开发的周期长 ,成本大 ,风险高 ,在生产转基因动物之前有必要对乳腺特异性表达载体构建的合理性和有效性进行检测。综述了国内外载体检测研究的进展 ,以及这些检测方法在转基因小鼠、动物乳腺内表达法和细胞培养中的应用     

提高动物乳腺生物反应器表达水平的策略

在转基因动物乳腺生物反应器研究中,组织特异性表达水平、表达率和表达定位性是决定性的指标。因此,高效表达乳腺生物反应器的制备是许多研究者要实现的目标,也是走向产业化的基本要求。本文从基因构件、动物基因转移方面叙述了如何提高乳腺生物反应器表达水平、增强表达特异性及表达率,着重探讨如何提高动物乳腺生物反应器表达水平。     

Expression of human growth hormone in the milk of transgenic rabbits with transgene mapped to the telomere region of chromosome 7q

The advent of transgenic technology has provided methods for the production of pharmaceuticals by the isolation of these proteins from transgenic animals. The mammary gland has been focused on as a bioreactor, since milk is easily collected from lactating animals and protein production can be expressed at very high levels, including hormones and enzymes. We demonstrate here the expression pattern of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in transgenic rabbits carrying hGH genomic sequences driven by the rat whey acidic protein (WAP) promoter. The transgene was mapped to the q26-27 telomere region of chromosome 7q by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Nearly 30 % of the F1 generation demonstrated the presence of transgene. The recombinant growth hormone was detected in the milk of the transgenic rabbit females, but not in serum, up to the level of 10???g/ml. Ectopic expression of the transgene in the brain, heart, kidney, liver, and salivary gland was not observed, indicating that a short sequence of rat WAP promoter (969 bp) contained essential sequences directing expression exclusively to the mammary gland. The biological activity of recombinant growth hormone was measured by immunoreactivity and the capability to stimulate growth of the hormone-dependent Nb211 cell line.     

Rabbit whey acidic protein gene upstream region controls high-level expression of bovine growth hormone in the mammary gland of transgenic mice

Transgenic mice were produced which secreted high levels of bGH into milk. The 6.3-kb upstream region of the rabbit whey acidic protein (rWAP) gene was linked to the structural part of the bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene, and the chimeric gene was introduced into mouse oocytes. bGH was detected by radioimmunoassay in the milk of all resulting transgenic mice. bGH concentrations in milk varied from line to line, from 1.0–16 mg/ml. This expression was not correlated to the number of transgene copies. In all lines studied, the mammary gland was the major organ expressing bGH mRNA during lactation. bGH mRNA concentrations were barely detectable in the mammary gland of cyclic females; they increased during pregnancy. These results show that the upstream region of the rWAP gene harbors powerful regulatory elements which target high levels of bGH transgene expression to the mammary gland of lactating transgenic mice. © 1995 wiley-Liss, Inc.     

乳腺生物反应器的研究现状和产业化前景

转基因动物乳腺生物反应器是伴随转基因动物技术而发展起来的一项高新生物技术。利用这项技术,我们可以从动物乳汁中源源不断地获取用于医疗或保健目的的有生物活性的基因产物。这是一种全新的蛋白质生产模式,它将成为许多国家的重要支柱产业之一。本文介绍了乳腺生物反应器的基本概念和基本原理;概述了制备过程中的目的基因选择、载体构建、转基因等技术环节的研究现状;分析了乳腺生物反应器的优势及存在的问题,并就其产业化前景进行了展望。     

Differential regulation of rat beta-casein-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusion gene expression in transgenic mice.

Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated the mammary-specific expression of the entire rat beta-casein gene with 3.5 kilobases (kb) of 5' and 3.0 kb of 3' DNA in transgenic mice (Lee et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 16:1027-1041, 1988). In an attempt to localize sequences that dictate this specificity, lines of transgenic mice carrying two different rat beta-casein promoter-bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) fusion genes have been established. Twenty and eight lines of transgenic mice carrying two fusion genes containing either 2.3 or 0.5 kb, respectively, of 5'-flanking DNA of the rat beta-casein gene along with noncoding exon I and 0.5 kb of intron A were identified, most of which transmitted the transgenes to their offspring in a Mendelian pattern. CAT activity was detected predominantly in the lactating mammary gland of female transgenic mice but not in the male mammary fat pad. A several-hundred-fold variation in the level of cat expression was observed in the mammary gland of different lines of mice, presumably due to the site of integration of the transgenes. CAT activity was increased in the mammary gland during development from virgin to midpregnancy and lactation. Unexpectedly, the casein-cat transgenes were also expressed in the thymus of different lines of both male and female mice, in some cases at levels equivalent to those observed in the mammary gland, and in contrast to the mammary gland, CAT activity was decreased during pregnancy and lactation in the thymus. Thus, 0.5 kb of 5'-flanking DNA of the rat beta-casein gene along with noncoding exon I and 0.5 kb of intron A are sufficient to target bacterial cat gene expression to the mammary gland of lactating mice.     

Increased transgene integration efficiency upon microinjection of DNA into both pronuclei of rabbit embryos

Transgenic rabbits provide a useful biological model for the study of the regulation of mammalian genes. However, transgene integration efficiency has generally been low. Here we present a first attempt to increase the integration rate of exogenous DNA into the rabbit genome, using a double pronuclei microinjection method. Pronuclear stage rabbit embryos were recovered from superovulated NZW females, 19–20 h after hCG injection. About 5 μg/mL of exogenous DNA solution was microinjected either into one pronucleus (single microinjection, SM) or into both pronuclei (double microinjected, DM). The transgene consisted of a 2.5 kb murine whey acidic protein promoter (mWAP), 7.2 kb cDNA of the human clotting factor VIII (hFVIII), and 4.6 kb that of 3′ flanking sequences of the mWAP gene. The in vitro survival of DM embryos to the blastocyst stage was lower than that of SM embryos (68 vs. 89%). Similar results were obtained using EGFP as a control gene construct. However, there was no difference in the percentage of embryos that developed into live offspring using DM (25%) vs. SM (26%). The integration frequency of mWAP-hFVIII into the genome of transgenic rabbits was 3.3% (1/30) upon SM and 8.1% (4/49) at DM (p < 0.05). All founders transmitted the transgene to their offspring in a Mendelian fashion. The SM founder female secreted 87.4 μg/mL rhFVIII in milk, with an activity of 0.594 lU/mL. The DM founder female produced 118 μg/mL rhFVIII, with activity values of 18 lU/mL. This is the first report of transgenic rabbit production using a double microinjection technique. Our preliminary results suggest that this method can increase the efficiency of production of transgenic rabbit founders, giving a higher integration rate than single microinjection.     

Analysis of the N-glycans of recombinant human Factor IX purified from transgenic pig milk

Glycosylation of recombinant proteins is of particular importance because it can play significant roles in the clinical properties of the glycoprotein. In this work, the N-glycan structures of recombinant human Factor IX (tg-FIX) produced in the transgenic pig mammary gland were determined. The majority of the N-glycans of transgenic pig-derived Factor IX (tg-FIX) are complex, bi-antennary with one or two terminal N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) moieties. We also found that the N-glycan structures of tg-FIX produced in the porcine mammary epithelial cells differed with respect to N-glycans from glycoproteins produced in other porcine tissues. tg-FIX contains no detectable Neu5Gc, the sialic acid commonly found in porcine glycoproteins produced in other tissues. Additionally, we were unable to detect glycans in tg-FIX that have a terminal Galalpha(1,3)Gal disaccharide sequence, which is strongly antigenic in humans. The N-glycan structures of tg-FIX are also compared to the published N-glycan structures of recombinant human glycoproteins produced in other transgenic animal species. While tg-FIX contains only complex structures, antithrombin III (goat), C1 inhibitor (rabbit), and lactoferrin (cow) have both high mannose and complex structures. Collectively, these data represent a beginning point for the future investigation of species-specific and tissue/cell-specific differences in N-glycan structures among animals used for transgenic animal bioreactors.     

Production GH transgenic goat improving mammogenesis by somatic cell nuclear transfer

Growth hormone is a positive regulator of mammary gland development. Dairy animals that are administered growth hormone display enhanced lactation performance, a desirable agricultural trait. The objective of the current research was to generate an improved milk production phenotype in a large animal model using over-expressed GH in the mammary gland to promote mammogenesis. To this end, we constructed a mammary gland-specific expression vector, pcGH, and demonstrated effective GH expression in goat mammary epithelial cells in vitro by ELISA. Then, to produce transgenic offspring that were capable of stable GH expression in vivo, the linearized pcGH vector was electroporated into goat fetal fibroblasts. Cell colonies that were positive for GH were used as donors for nuclear transfer to enucleated oocytes. A total of 253 morulae or blastocytes developed from the reconstructed embryos were transferred to 56 recipients, resulting in 24 pregnancies at day 35. Finally, six transgenic goats were born. PCR detection confirmed the success of the cloning procedure. To observe the mammogenesis of dairy goats, the GH transgenic goats were mated with a completely healthy buck. In the later pregnancy period, the mammary gland of the GH transgenic goats were extensive than non-transgenic goats. These experiments indicated that the pcGH vector was incorporated into the transgenic goats and affected mammogenesis, which laid a solid foundation for elucidating the impact of GH on mammogenesis and lactation performance.     

Integrin-interacting protein Kindlin-2 induces mammary tumors in transgenic mice

Kindlin-2, an integrin-interacting protein, regulates breast cancer progression. However, currently, no animal model to study the role of Kindlin-2 in the carcinogenesis of mammary gland is available. We established a Kindlin-2 transgenic mouse model using a mammary gland-specific promoter, mammary tumor virus (MMTV) long terminal repeat (LTR). Kindlin-2 was overexpressed in the epithelial cells of the transgenic mice. The mammary gland ductal trees were found to grow faster in MMTV-Kindlin-2 transgenic mice than in control mice during puberty. Kindlin-2 promoted mammary gland growth as indicated by more numerous duct branches and larger lumens, and more alveoli were formed in the mammary glands during pregnancy under Kindlin-2 overexpression. Importantly, mammary gland-specific expression of Kindlin-2 induced tumor formation at the age of 55 weeks on average. Additionally, the levels of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor were decreased, whereas human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and β-catenin were upregulated in the Kindlin-2-induced mammary tumors. These findings demonstrated that Kindlin-2 induces mammary tumor formation via activation of the Wnt signaling pathway.