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A promoter that drives gene expression preferentially in male transgenic rats

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Abstract

Gender-preferential gene expression is a widespread phenomenon in humans. It is important to study how gender differences influence the pathogenesis of various diseases and response to specific drugs. The aim of this study is to determine if the mouse albumin enhancer/promoter may serve as the promoter to introduce gender-preferential gene expression in transgenic animals. We created four independent transgenic rat lines in which the human C-reactive protein transgene was under the control of mouse albumin enhancer/promoter. Quantitative real time RT-PCR analysis showed that transgene expression in the liver of male rats was significantly higher than transgene expression in the female rats (P < 0.05).There was a 5.3-fold (male/female) difference in line-519, and a 12.2-fold (male/female) difference in line-488. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that the serum of male transgenic rats had a 13- to 679-fold difference at the protein level on transgene production compared with female transgenic rats. The male-to-female difference in gene expression was 10- to 17-fold in the liver of transgenic rats. Orchiectomy dramatically reduced protein production from the transgene in the liver. Testosterone administration into female rats did not increase the transgene expression, but estrogen administration into the male rats reduced transgene expression. This study provides a valuable tool for investigating the pathological roles of genes that are expressed in a gender-preferential manner in human disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH Grants (HG006173, MD005964, HL095098, RR003034), American Heart Association Grant (09GRNT2300003). We acknowledge Wanda Filipiak for preparation of transgenic rats and the Transgenic Animal Model Core of the University of Michigan’s Biomedical Research Core Facilities.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

    Qiling Li, Yueling Wang, Xu Li & Qing Song

  2. Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Qiling Li, Yamin Ma, Wenzhi Li, Wei Xu, Li Ma, Guoxing Fu, Xiaohua Tian, Tameka Bythwood, Jendai Richards, Mukaila A. Akinbami & Qing Song

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  1. Qiling Li
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  2. Yamin Ma
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  3. Wenzhi Li
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  4. Wei Xu
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  5. Li Ma
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  6. Guoxing Fu
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  7. Xiaohua Tian
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  8. Yueling Wang
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  9. Xu Li
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  10. Tameka Bythwood
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  11. Jendai Richards
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  12. Mukaila A. Akinbami
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  13. Qing Song
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qing Song.

Additional information

Qiling Li and Yamin Ma have contributed equally to this work.

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Li, Q., Ma, Y., Li, W. et al. A promoter that drives gene expression preferentially in male transgenic rats. Transgenic Res 23, 341–349 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-013-9773-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-013-9773-9

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