[Production of transgenic mice by in vivo spermatogonia-mediated gene transfer]

The present study examined if injection of DNA into the testis tabular could generate transgenic mice via transfecting spermatogonia. The 0.9 kb Bcl-2 cDNA was fused to the promoter region of mouse whey acid protein gene and the SV40 polyA. A 3.0 kb fragment of WAP-Bcl-2-SV40 was mixed with cationic liposome and one side tabular of 3 mice testis was injected with the fragment, the other side was ligatured. Two out of the 3 males were used to mate with the female 4 days later. Twenty pups were produced and 3 of which were proven to be gene integration positive by PCR detection. Two, 1 male and 1 female, were further confirmed to carry the transgene by Southern blot analysis. The male died by accident during its feeding. The female was demonstrated to express Bcl-2 protein in its mammary glands by Western blot assay. Seven out of 45 F1 mice were proven to be transgenic by PCR. It is concluded that transfecting spermatogonia in vivo can produce transgenic mice.