Uniform vascular-endothelial-cell-specific gene expression in both embryonic and adult transgenic mice

Schlaeger, TM; Bartunkova, S; Lawitts, JA; Teichmann, G; Risau, W; Deutsch, U; Sato, TN (1997). Uniform vascular-endothelial-cell-specific gene expression in both embryonic and adult transgenic mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - PNAS, 94(7), pp. 3058-63. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences NAS 10.1073/pnas.94.7.3058

Full text not available from this repository.

TIE2 is a vascular endothelial-specific receptor tyrosine kinase essential for the regulation of vascular network formation and remodeling. Previously, we have shown that the 1.2-kb 5' flanking region of the TIE2 promoter is capable of directing beta-galactosidase reporter gene expression specifically into a subset of endothelial cells (ECs) of transgenic mouse embryos. However, transgene activity was restricted to early embryonic stages and not detectable in adult mice. Herein we describe the identification and characterization of an autonomous endothelial-specific enhancer in the first intron of the mouse TIE2 gene. Furthermore, combination of the TIE2 promoter with an intron fragment containing this enhancer allows it to target reporter gene expression specifically and uniformly to virtually all vascular ECs throughout embryogenesis and adulthood. To our knowledge, this is the first time that an in vivo expression system has been assembled by which heterologous genes can be targeted exclusively to the ECs of the entire vasculature. This should be a valuable tool to address the function of genes during physiological and pathological processes of vascular ECs in vivo. Furthermore, we were able to identify a short region critical for enhancer function in vivo that contains putative binding sites for Ets-like transcription factors. This should, therefore, allow us to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying the vascular-EC-specific expression of the TIE2 gene.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Theodor Kocher Institute
UniBE Contributor:	Deutsch, Urban
ISSN:	0027-8424
ISBN:	9096345
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences NAS
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:52
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:16
Publisher DOI:	10.1073/pnas.94.7.3058
PubMed ID:	9096345
Web of Science ID:	A1997WR93000057
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/22231 (FactScience: 32316)