Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026
Transient Expression of Proteins by Hydrodynamic Gene Delivery in Mice
Published on: May 5, 2014
Expression of Human DNAJ (Heat Shock Protein-40) B3 in Humanized UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 Mice
Ryo Mitsugi1, Tomoo Itoh2, Ryoichi Fujiwara3
1Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Kitasato University, Tokyo 108-8641, Japan. pl12032@st2.pharm.kitasato-u.ac.jp.
Insights
Human DNAJB3 chaperone protein expression, crucial in obesity, was studied in humanized UGT1 mice. Researchers found its expression patterns mirrored human levels and decreased in the liver of mice fed high-fat diets, suggesting a model for disease research.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Biochemistry
Background:
- The DNAJB3 gene encodes a DNAJ (Heat shock protein 40; Hsp40) homolog, subfamily B, member 3 chaperone protein (DNAJB3).
- DNAJB3 expression is down-regulated in disease states, such as obesity, evidenced by decreased DNAJB3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).
- Humanized UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1 mice (hUGT1 mice) carrying the human DNAJB3 gene were recently developed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the tissue-specific expression of human DNAJB3 mRNA in hUGT1 mice.
- To investigate whether human DNAJB3 expression in hUGT1 mice is regulated similarly to human disease conditions like obesity.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative analysis of human DNAJB3 mRNA expression across various tissues in hUGT1 mice.
- Comparison of human DNAJB3 mRNA expression in the liver of hUGT1 mice fed a standard diet versus a high-fat diet.
Main Results:
- The highest expression of human DNAJB3 mRNA was observed in the testis, with the lowest in the liver of hUGT1 mice.
- The tissue-specific expression pattern of mouse Dnajb3 in hUGT1 mice closely resembled that of human DNAJB3.
- High-fat diet-fed hUGT1 mice exhibited significantly reduced human DNAJB3 mRNA expression in the liver compared to control mice.
Conclusions:
- Human DNAJB3 expression in hUGT1 mice shows tissue-specific patterns similar to humans.
- The regulation of human DNAJB3 expression in hUGT1 mice, particularly its reduction in the liver under high-fat diet conditions, mirrors disease-related changes observed in humans.
- hUGT1 mice serve as a valuable in vivo model for studying the physiological role of human DNAJB3 and its involvement in disease states such as obesity.
Abstract:
The human DNAJB3 gene encodes a DNAJ (Heat shock protein 40; Hsp40) homolog, subfamily B, member 3 chaperone protein (DNAJB3), which can be down-regulated in disease conditions, as observed in decreased expression of DNAJB3 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of obese patients. Recently, humanized UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1 mice (hUGT1 mice) were developed, in which the introduced human UGT1 gene contained a gene encoding human DNAJB3. In the present study, we analyzed the expression of human DNAJB3 mRNA in hUGT1 mice. Among the examined tissues, the testis had the highest expression of human DNAJB3 mRNA, while the lowest expression was observed in the liver. We found that the pattern of tissue-specific expression of mouse Dnajb3 in hUGT1 mice was very similar to that of human DNAJB3. We further demonstrated that the expression of human DNAJB3 in the liver was significantly reduced in high-fat-diet-fed hUGT1 mice compared to the expression level in the control mice, indicating that the expression of human DNAJB3 in hUGT1 mice could be similarly regulated in disease conditions such as obesity. Humanized UGT1 mice might therefore be useful to investigate the physiological role of human DNAJB3 in vivo.
