Open AccessUnexpected thymic hyperplasia in transgenic mice harboring a neuronal promoter fused with simian virus 40 large T antigen.
Author(s) -
Florence Botteri,
Herman van der Putten,
D F Wong,
C A Sauvage,
Ronald M. Evans
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
molecular and cellular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.14
H-Index - 327
eISSN - 1067-8824
pISSN - 0270-7306
DOI - 10.1128/mcb.7.9.3178
Subject(s) - biology , hyperplasia , transgene , genetically modified mouse , enteroendocrine cell , endocrinology , antigen , medicine , hormone , cancer research , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrine system , immunology , biochemistry
The hypothalamic peptide growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) regulates the secretion and production of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary (M. C. Gelato and G. R. Merriam, Annu. Rev. Physiol. 48:569-591). To study GRF gene regulation, transgenic mice were generated that harbor the human GRF promoter fused to the coding sequences from the simian virus 40 early region. These mice had normal hypothalamic functions but unexpectedly suffered from severe thymic hyperplasia. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that large T antigen was expressed in the thymic epithelial cells. These cells have endocrine properties and are known to produce thymic hormones [corrected]. The thymic hyperplasia was the apparent consequence of inappropriate production of T-cell maturation factors by epithelial cells and could involve increased self renewal of apparently normal T stem cells in the thymus.