Regulation of CAT protein by ribozyme and antisense mRNA in transgenic mice

Transgenic mouse lines were engineered to express stably antisense mRNA or antisense mRNA containing catalytic ribozyme (rbz) structures complementary to bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene transcripts. One transgenic line expressed antisense mRNA that specifically targeted full-length CAT coding sequences (ACAT). Another transgenic line expressed full-length antisense CAT mRNA which was modified by mutagensis to include four rbz cassettes (rbz-ACAT) in order to compare antisense versus antisense-rbz function in vivo. Preliminary data were also collected from a transgenic mouse line expressing antisense mRNA targeting 72% of the 5' region of CAT coding sequences (5' ACAT). All constructs contained similar control elements in their design. Promoter elements were derived from the bovine alpha s1-casein gene, while the small t intron and 3' control sequences were derived from SV40. The ability of these various constructs to down-regulate CAT protein levels was compared by analysis of CAT protein production in lactating double-hemizygous transgenic female mice. Every double-hemizygous mouse analysed expressed mRNA from the alpha s1-casein-CAT construct (Clarke et al., 1994) and equivalent levels of mRNA from one of the three antisense constructs. Transgenic mouse lines expressing both ACAT and CAT mRNA down-regulated CAT protein levels by 90% of that found in the CAT only transgenic population. Similarly, double-hemizygous transgenic lines expressing both rbz-ACAT and CAT mRNA regulated CAT protein levels by 87%. Preliminary data suggests that expression of mRNA from 5' ACAT/CAT double-hemizygote mice allowed approximately 67% down-regulation of normal CAT protein levels. We conclude that incorporation of multiple ribozymes within the full-length antisense CAT construct does not enhance the effectiveness of antisense mRNA in the down-regulation of CAT protein production in our system.