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Transgenic chickens expressing human urokinase-type plasminogen activator
Sung Ho Lee1, Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Young Tae Ho
1Department of Animal Biotechnology, Bio-Organ Research Center, Konkuk University, 1 Hwayang-dong, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul, 143 701, South Korea.
Poultry Science
|August 21, 2013
Summary
Chickens can be engineered to produce human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (huPA) using retroviral vectors. While successful, huPA expression impacts chicken health, fertility, and embryo development.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Transgenic Animal Production
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (huPA) is crucial for treating thrombolytic and vascular diseases.
- Developing efficient bioreactors for pharmaceutical production is a key area in biotechnology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using chickens as bioreactors for producing human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (huPA).
- To assess the efficacy of retroviral vectors for generating transgenic chickens expressing huPA.
Main Methods:
- Recombinant huPA gene delivery into chicken eggs via Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV)-based retrovirus vectors.
- Analysis of huPA gene integration, mRNA transcription, and protein expression in hatched chicks and subsequent generations.
- Evaluation of physiological effects, including blood clotting time, fertility, and embryo development, in transgenic chickens.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated transgenic chickens carrying the huPA gene, with expression confirmed in various tissues and germ-line transmission.
- Achieved a significant 16-fold increase in active huPA protein levels in transgenic chicken blood.
- Observed reduced embryo survival, hatchability, increased blood clotting time, and impaired fertility in adult transgenic roosters.
Conclusions:
- Retroviral vector systems enable the successful production of huPA transgenic chickens.
- These transgenic chickens show potential as bioreactors for pharming huPA, but associated health and reproductive impacts require further study.
- Transgenic chickens can serve as models for investigating huPA-related disorders.
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Recombinant DNA technology called transgenesis is often used to add a foreign gene or remove a detrimental gene from an organism. Such genetically modified organisms are called transgenic organisms.
The first-ever transgenic plant was a tobacco plant developed in 1983 that showed resistance against the tobacco mosaic virus. Since then, many transgenic plants have been developed and commercialized for improving the agricultural, ornamental, and horticultural value of a crop plant. Transgenic...
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