Regulatory regions from the Brn4 promoter direct LACZ expression to the developing forebrain and neural tube

To characterize cis-acting regulatory elements of the mouse POU-domain gene, Brain-4/Pou3F4, transgenic mouse pedigrees were generated that contained the LacZ reporter gene under the control of Brn4 5' flanking sequences. A six kilobase promoter region was identified that reproducibly directed expression of the reporter gene to the forebrain and neural tube of developing mouse embryos. Deletional analysis of this promoter region indicates that at least two positive cis-active elements can direct expression to the developing neural tube. These data characterize a transgenic promoter region that will be useful in directing expression to the developing neural tube during the ontogeny of the forebrain.