Search

Progesterone (P4) and its cognate receptor, the progesterone receptor (PGR), have important roles in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in the murine uterus. In previous studies, using high-density DNA microarray analysis, we identified a subset of genes whose expression is repressed by chronic P4-PGR activation in the uterus. The Clca3gene is one of the genes whose expression is the most significantly downregulated by P4 and PGR. In the present study, we performed real-time RT–PCR and in situhybridization to investigate the regulation of Clca3by P4 and determine the pattern of expression of Clca3in the uterus during early pregnancy. This analysis shows that Clca3mRNA transcripts were detected in the luminal and glandular epithelium of the pseudopregnant uterus at day 0.5 and that the expression of Clca3was not detected after day 3.5. P4 represses Clca3mRNA synthesis in the luminal epithelial and glandular epithelial cells of the uterus in ovariectomized wild-type mice, but not in Pgrknockout (PRKO) mice. Conversely, estrogen (E2) induces Clca3expression in the luminal epithelium and glandular epithelium, and this induction was repressed by P4 in the murine uterus. Analysis of the promoter region of Clca3by in silicoand transient transfection analysis in HEC-1A cells identified the regulation of Clca3by estrogen receptor-alpha (ESR1) within the first 528 bp of 5′-flanking region of the Clca3gene. Our studies identified Clca3as a novel downregulated gene of PGR that is a direct target of E2 regulation.

Nkx2-5 marks the earliest recognizable cardiac progenitor cells, and is activated in response to inductive signals involved in lineage specification. Nkx2-5 is also expressed in the developing foregut, thyroid, spleen, stomach and tongue. One approach to elucidate the signals involved in cardiogenesis was to examine the transcriptional regulation of early lineage markers such as Nkx2-5. We generated F0 transgenic mice, which carry Nkx2-5 flanking sequences linked to a lacZ reporter gene. We identified multiple regulatory regions located within the proximal 10.7 kb of the Nkx2-5 gene. In addition to a proximal promoter, we identified a second promoter and a novel upstream exon that could participate in the regulation of Nkx2-5 transcription. Although used rarely in normal development, this novel exon could be spliced into the Nkx2-5 coding region in several ways, thereby potentially creating novel Nkx2-5 protein isoforms, whose transcriptional activity is greatly diminished as compared to wild-type Nkx2-5. An enhancer that directs expression in pharynx, spleen, thyroid and stomach was identified within 3.5 kb of exon 1 between the coding exon 1 and the novel upstream exon 1a. Two or more enhancers upstream of exon 1a were capable of driving expression in the cardiac crescent, throughout the myocardium of the early heart tube, then in the outflow tract and right ventricle of the looped heart tube. A negative element was also located upstream of exon1a, which interacted in complex ways with enhancers to direct correct spatial expression. In addition, potential autoregulatory elements can be cooperatively stimulated by Nkx2-5 and GATA-4. Our results demonstrate that a complex suite of interacting regulatory domains regulate Nkx2-5 transcription. Dissection of these elements should reveal essential features of cardiac induction and positive and negative signaling within the cardiac field.

Candidate transcription factors involved in pancreatic endocrine development have been isolated using insulin gene regulation as a paradigm. The cell-type restricted basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene, BETA2/NeuroD, expressed in pancreatic endocrine cells, the intestine, and the brain, activates insulin gene transcription and can induce neurons to differentiate. To understand the importance of BETA2 in pancreatic endocrine cell differentiation, mice lacking a functional BETA2 gene were generated by gene targeting experiments. Mice carrying a targeted disruption of the BETA2 gene developed severe diabetes and died perinatally. Homozygous BETA2 null mice had a striking reduction in the number of insulin-producing beta cells and failed to develop mature islets. Islet morphogenesis appeared to be arrested between E14.5 and E17.5, a period characterized by major expansion of the beta cell population. The presence of severe diabetes in these mice suggests that proper islet structure plays an important role in blood glucose homeostasis. In addition, secretin- and cholecystokinin-producing enteroendocrine cells failed to develop in the absence of BETA2. The absence of these two pancreatic secretagogs may explain the abnormal cellular polarity and inability to secrete zymogen granules in pancreatic acinar exocrine cells. The nervous system appeared to develop normally, despite abundant expression of BETA2 in differentiating neurons. Thus, BETA2 is critical for the normal development of several specialized cell types arising from the gut endoderm.

The COUP-TFs are orphan members of the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily. Multiple COUP-TF members have been cloned and they share a high degree of sequence homology between species as divergent as Drosophila and humans, suggesting a conservation of function through evolution. The COUP-TFs are highly expressed in the developing nervous systems of several species examined, indicating their possible involvement in neuronal development and differentiation. In the mouse, there are two very homologous COUP-TF genes (I and II) and their expression patterns overlap extensively. To study the physiological function of mCOUP-TFI, a gene-targeting approach was undertaken. We report here that mCOUP-TFI null animals die perinataly. Mutant embryos display an altered morphogenesis of the ninth cranial ganglion and nerve. The aberrant formation of the ninth ganglion is most possibly attributable to extra cell death in the neuronal precursor cell population. In addition, at midgestation, aberrant nerve projection and arborization were oberved in several other regions of mutant embryos. These results indicate that mCOUP-TFI is required for proper fetal development and is essential for postnatal development. Furthermore, mCOUP-TFI possesses vital physiological functions that are distinct from mCOUP-TFII despite of their high degree of homology and extensive overlapping expression patterns.

The rat insulin II gene enhancer, RIPE3 (-126 to -86), mediates beta-islet cell-specific activity in transfection assays. To investigate the in vivo activity of RIPE3, we generated mice carrying a transgene consisting of three copies of RIPE3 linked to a minimal chicken ovalbumin promoter in conjunction with sequences encoding the human growth hormone gene. 13 transgenic mice were obtained, 11 of which expressed the transgene, as determined by serum radioimmunoassay for human growth hormone. Expression of the transgene was assessed for cell specificity by immunocytochemistry. The pancreatic islet cells invariably stained for growth hormone, while the acinar and ductal cells did not. Staining of adjacent sections for insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin revealed that growth hormone was expressed in the beta-cell in all of the mice analyzed, but in some mice alpha-cells also contained growth hormone. RNase protection analysis revealed that the tissues that consistently express the transgene in these animals are the pancreas and brain. Developmental analysis revealed that the transgene was expressed in the pancreatic bud at embryonic day 9.5, corresponding to the temporal expression pattern of the insulin gene. These results signify that an element as small as 41 base pairs is capable of regulating pancreatic temporal and spatial gene expression in vivo.

We have used a bovine papillomavirus-based vector to generate transgenic mice. Transgenic mice result from either pronuclear or cytoplasmic injections of the vector into fertilized eggs. Of 30 mice generated by microinjection, 27 (90%) contained the vector in its episomal form, at less than one copy per cell. This represents a highly efficient means of gene transfer in which the transgene is in a controlled genetic environment.

Transient transfection and murine germ line gene transfer analysis was used to determine the regions of DNA necessary to confer the appropriate level and cell specificity of the expression of the gene coding for the murine Clara cell 10-kDa protein, mCC10. To identify the cis-acting elements involved in the regulation of mCC10 gene, different lengths of the 5'-flanking sequence were ligated to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene for transient transfection to H441 cells (human lung adenocarcinoma cell line). The corresponding sequences were also fused to the human growth hormone gene and transferred to the murine genome for an in vivo analysis of mCC10 promoter activity. The results of the transient transfection analysis identified the region from -166 to -124 of the 5'-flanking region of the mCC10 gene as necessary for the expression of this gene in H441 cells. The transgenic mouse analysis confirmed that the 166 base pairs of 5'-flanking DNA was sufficient to confer cell-specific expression. However, the transgenic mouse analysis also showed that, to achieve the full quantitative level of transgene (human growth hormone) expression, regions between -803 and -166 base pairs of the 5'-flanking sequences are required for maximum expression of mCC10 gene promoter activity.

Antiserum produced against a Mr60,000 component (PPZA, purified pig zona antigen) isolated from porcine zonae was examined in respect to its species cross reactivity and contraceptive potential. Antiserum to PPZA produced precipitation layers of varying intensities on the zonae of all species tested. The degree of cross reactivity of anti-PPZA serum for zonae from various species, estimated by precipitation and immunofluorescent titrations, was in the order of human≥squirrel monkey>rabbit>rat>mouse. Percentages of 125I-labeled solubilized zonae from these species precipitated by a l:5000 dilution of the antiserum were 49, 27, 18, 18, and 0, respectively, for the pig, squirrel monkey, human, rabbit, and mouse. Pretreatment of intact zonae from human and squirrel monkey with PPZA antibody resulted in the in vitro inhibition of homologous sperm adherence to such treated zonae, thus demonstrating the contraceptive potential of PPZA antiserum in these two species. Similar treatments using the rabbit and mouse systems did not show any observable inhibition of homologous sperm adherence.Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis studies of radiolabeled porcine zona revealed a pattern of three major acidic macromolecules with average molecular weights of 92,000, 70,000, and 60,000, each of which exhibited extensive charge heterogeneity. Comparable studies performed on zonae from the human, squirrel monkey, rabbit, and mouse each revealed a species-specific pattern of two to four major families of acidic charge isomers with subunit molecular weights varying from 40,000–120,000. Human and squirrel monkey zonae each possessed one or more components similar to PPZA with respect to size and charge. Collectively, these electrophoretic and immunologic studies suggest that the zonae of pig, human, squirrel monkey, and rabbit each contain an acidic macromolecule which possesses antigenic determinants similar to those of PPZA.