Production and Characterization of Human β_2 Microglobulin Transgenic Mice

The human β2 microglobulin transgenic mice were produced for the study of human HLA B 2704 gene related to arthrospondylosis in chinese.Human β2 microglobulin gene (β2m gene) was introduced into fertilized eggs of C57BL/6×Kunming and Kunming×Kunming F1 mice by microinjection.By PCR,the founder mice and their progeny were screened for integration of the human β2m transgene into the mouse genome which were further confirmed by Southern blotting.The copy number of transgene was determined by dot blotting.The expression of human β2m transgene in mice at the mRNA level was analyzed by RT\|PCR.Six founder mice and seven founder F1 contained human β2m gene.Four of 35 (11\^4%)hybrid mice from C57BL/6×Kunming and two of 51 (3\^9%) hybrid mice from Kunming×Kunming background carried human β2m gene.Statistical analysis showed that there was significant difference of the integration rate between the two groups( P 0 05),seven of 20 hybrid mice from founder mice containing human β2m gene×Kunming background carried human β2m gene.The transgene was the single copy in all the founder mice and founder F1.The human β2m gene was expressed at the mRNA level in skin,colon,testicle and spleen tissues of the transgenic mice.Human β2m transgenic mice have been obtained.For the production of transgenic mice,C57BL/6×Kunmin F1 is better than Kunming×Kunming F1.Compared with the HLA B 2704 gene,the integration of human β2m gene into mouse genome is more difficult.