Murine cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter directs astrocyte-specific expression in transgenic mice

Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), which causes acute, latent, and persistent infection of the natural host, is used as an animal model of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Transcription of MCMV immediate-early (IE) genes is required for expression of the early and late genes and is dependent on host cell transcription factors. Cell-type-specific expression activity of the MCMV IE promoter was analyzed in transgenic mice generated with the major IE (MIE) enhancer/promoter involving nucleotides -1343 to -6 (1338 bp) connected to the reporter gene lacZ. Distinct expression was observed in the brain, kidneys, stomach, and skeletal muscles. Weak expression was observed in a portion of the parenchymal cells of the salivary glands and pancreas, and expression was hardly detected in the lungs, intestine, or immune and hematopoietic organs such as the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. The spectrum of organs positive for expression was narrower than that of the HCMV MIE promoter-lacZ transgenic mice reported previously and showed a greater degree of cell-type specificity. Interestingly, astrocyte-specific expression of the transgene was observed in the brain and primary glial cultures from the transgenic mice by combination of beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) expression and immunostaining for cell markers. However, the transgene was not expressed in neurons, oligodendroglia, microglia, or endothelial cells. Furthermore, the beta-Gal expression in glial cultures was stimulated significantly by MCMV infection or by addition of calcium ionophore. These observations indicated that expression activity of the MCMV IE promoter is strictly cell-type specific, especially astrocyte-specific in the brain. This specific pattern of activity is similar to that of natural HCMV infection in humans.