Foreign gene expression in the mouse testis by localized in vivo gene transfer

In order to attain foreign gene expression in vivo in the testis of living mice, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT), firefly luciferase and bacterial lacZ reporter genes were transfected by microparticle bombardment and electroporation. The results showed that CAT reporter gene was expressed in a dose-dependent fashion. The X-gal staining showed that in some spermatogenic-like cells, the bacterial lacZ gene was also expressed by in vivo electroporation, but not by in vivo microparticle bombardment. The possibility of in vivo gene transfer to the spermatogenic cells of the mouse testis was further confirmed by the fact that the CAT reporter gene expression was testis-specific when driven by the mouse-protamin 1 promoter. It was concluded, therefore, that in vivo microparticle bombardment and, especially, electroporation provide convenient and efficient means of gene transfer to the testis of living mice.