Establishment of a transgenic mouse model of corneal dystrophy overexpressing human BIGH3

This study aimed to establish a transgenic mouse model of corneal dystrophy (CD) overexpressing the human transforming growth factor, β-induced, 68 kDa (TGFBI, also known as BIGH3) gene. A purified and linearized recombinant plasmid carrying the expression cassette BIGH3‑IRES‑EGFP was microinjected into the pronuclei of C57BL/6J mouse fertilized eggs under the control of the phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) promoter. The expression of human BIGH3 in the transgenic mice was confirmed by PCR using DNA extracted from tail tissue. Four founder transgenic mice were identified by PCR and the increased expression of BIGH3 was observed in the corneas of the transgenic mice by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. The abnormal corneas with central opacity were observed in the transgenic mice by corneal photography. We concluded that the exogenous gene, BIGH3, was integrated successfully into the mouse genome through microinjection. In addition, the phenotype observed in this BIGH3 transgenic mouse model was similar to CD. Therefore, this transgenic model may prove useful in the investigation of the pathogenesis of CD.