Mammary gland-specific expression of biologically active human osteoprotegerin in transgenic mice

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secreted glycoprotein that regulates bone resorption by inhibiting differentiation and activation of osteoclast, thereby potentially useful for the treatment of many bone diseases associated with increased bone loss. In this study, we designed a novel cDNA expression cassette by modifying the potent and mammary gland-specific goat β-casein/hGH hybrid gene construct and examined human OPG (hOPG) cDNA expression in transgenic mice. Six transgenic mice all successfully expressed hOPG in their milk at the level of 0.06-2,000 µg/ml. An estimated molecular weight of the milk hOPG was 55 kDa in SDS-PAGE, which is the same as a naturally glycosylated monomer. This hOPG expression was highly specific to the mammary glands of transgenic mice. hOPG mRNA was not detected in any organs analyzed except mammary gland. Functional integrity of milk hOPG was evaluated by TRAP (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) activity assay in bone marrow cell cultures. OPG ligand (OPG-L) treatment increased TRAP activity by two fold but it was completely abolished by co-treatment with transgenic milk containing hOPG. Taken together, our novel cDNA expression cassette could direct an efficient expression of biologically active hOPG, a potential candidate pharmaceutical for bone diseases, only in the mammary gland of transgenic mice.