Rosa26 locus supports tissue-specific promoter driving transgene expression specifically in pig

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 18;9(9):e107945. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107945. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Genetically modified pigs have become a popular model system in fundamental research, agricultural and biomedical applications. However, random integration often result in unstable expression of transgene and unpredictable phenotypes. The Rosa26 locus has been widely used to produce genetic modified animals with high and consistent expressing of transgene in mouse, human and rat, as it can be targeted efficiently and is not subject to gene-silencing effects. Recently, the first case of reporter gene targeting pigs in porcine Rosa26 (pRosa26) locus was reported. In the study, full sequence of pRosa26 locus was further characterized, and the pRosa26 promoter (pR26) was cloned and we evidenced that the new porcine endogenous promoter is suitable for driving transgene expression in a high and stable manner by avoiding DNA methylation. Furthermore, elongation factor 1a promoter (EF1a) -driven GFP reporter and Myostatin promoter (MyoP)-driven Follistatin (Fst) were successfully targeted into the pRosa26 locusby traditional homologous recombination (HR) strategy. EF1a showed high activity and hypomethylation at the locus. And, muscle-specific promoter MyoP was activated strictly in muscle of the pRosa26 targeted pigs, indicating Rosa26 locus supports tissue-specific promoter driving transgene expression in its own manner. The study provided further demonstration on biomedical and agricultural applications of porcine Rosa26 promoter and locus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Base Sequence
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Gene Expression
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Genetic Loci
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism
  • Organ Specificity
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic*
  • RNA, Untranslated / genetics*
  • Sus scrofa / genetics*
  • Swine
  • Swine, Miniature
  • Transcriptional Activation

Substances

  • RNA, Untranslated
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2011CBA01006) (to ZHL) (http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/); State Transgenic Research Program of China (2011ZX08006-002 and 2013ZX08009003-006) (to ZHL) (http://www.863.gov.cn/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.