Abstract
Immunoglobulin genes are normally expressed only in cells of the B lymphocyte lineage after a variable (V) and constant (C) gene rearrangement has occurred1. To study the control of immunoglobulin gene expression in a defined situation, we have produced transgenic mice by microinjecting a rearranged mouse immunoglobulin k gene (designated pB1-14) into fertilized mouse eggs2. We present here the analysis of six different k-transgenic mouse lines. All the transgenic mice express the microinjected k gene in a completely tissue-specific fashion. Transcripts from pB1-14 are found at a high level in the spleen, but are undetectable in nonlymphoid tissues of testis, liver, kidney, heart, muscle, brain and thyroid gland. In lymphoid cell subpopulations, the level of pB1-14 transcripts is correlated with the relative number of B cells; there is no correlation with the proportion of T lymphocytes. We concluded, therefore, that the microinjected k gene contains target sequences for B lymphocyte-specific gene activation signals that override the influence of the integration site.
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Storb, U., O'Brien, R., McMullen, M. et al. High expression of cloned immunoglobulin k gene in transgenic mice is restricted to B lymphocytes. Nature 310, 238–241 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/310238a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/310238a0
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