MRI detection of transcriptional regulation of gene expression in transgenic mice
Author: ["Batya Cohen","Keren Ziv","Vicki Plaks","Tomer Israely","Vyacheslav Kalchenko","Alon Harmelin","Laura E Benjamin","Michal Neeman"]
Publication: Nature Medicine
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Abstract
Ferritin, the iron storage protein, was recently suggested to be a candidate reporter for the detection of gene expression by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Here we report the generation of TET:EGFP-HAferritin (tet-hfer) transgenic mice, in which tissue-specific inducible transcriptional regulation of expression of the heavy chain of ferritin could be detected in vivo by MRI. We show organ specificity by mating the tet-hfer mice with transgenic mice expressing tetracycline transactivator (tTA) in liver hepatocytes and in vascular endothelial cells. Tetracycline-regulated overexpression of ferritin resulted in specific alterations of the transverse relaxation rate (R2) of water. Transgene-dependent changes in R2 were detectable by MRI in adult mice, and we also found fetal developmental induction of transgene expression in utero. Thus, the tet-hfer MRI reporter mice provide a new transgenic mouse platform for in vivo molecular imaging of reporter gene expression by MRI during both embryonic and adult life.
Cite this article
Cohen, B., Ziv, K., Plaks, V. et al. MRI detection of transcriptional regulation of gene expression in transgenic mice. Nat Med 13, 498–503 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1497
