Abstract
Two transgenic lines of mice were produced which contained the βS Antilles- and α2-hemoglobin genes trandemly coupled to the ‘micro’ locus control region (μLCR). The μLCRβS Antillesα2-hemoglobin transgenic mice expressed high levels of α2-hemoglobin while βS Antilles-hemoglobin expression was virtually undetectable. Abundant α2-hemoglobin protein was observed in the blood of transgenic mice, while βS Antilles-hemoglobin chains could not be detected. Transgenic red blood cells had substantially decreased sensitivity to osmotic lysis. Attempts to produce homozygotes containing the transgene were unsuccessful. The phenotype of these mice closely resembles that of β-thalassemic mice. The μLCRβS Antillesα2 transgenic mice demonstrate that if the μLCR is coupled to the βS Antilles- and α2-hemoglobin genes in tandem, only the distal α2-hemoglobin gene is selected for expression to significant levels in adult mice. These results support a reciprocally competitive model for LCR-hemoglobin developmental switching.
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Shafer, F.E., Dropublić, B., Ely, C. et al. Locus-control-region-coupled betaS Antilles- and alpha2-hemoglobin genes select for high alpha2-hemoglobin expression in adult transgenic mice. J Biomed Sci 1, 147–153 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02253341
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02253341