The Journal of Immunology, Vol 155, Issue 2 619-629, Copyright © 1995 by American Association of Immunologists

ARTICLES

Temporal and spatial expression of HLA-G messenger RNA in extraembryonic tissues of transgenic mice

CM Schmidt, HL Chen, I Chiu, RG Ehlenfeldt, JS Hunt and HT Orr
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA.

HLA-G, a nonclassical class I molecule, is expressed by trophoblasts, the only fetal cells in direct contact with maternal tissue. Results of previous experiments suggested that a 244-bp region located over 1 kb 5' from exon 1 is critical for extraembryonic expression of HLA-G in transgenic mice. We report here the production of HLA-G transgenic lines with a 6.0-kb HLA-G transgene that includes the 244-bp region. These lines exhibit copy number-dependent and developmentally appropriate transgene expression. One HLA-G transgenic line, G.3.2, exhibits extraembryonic HLA-G mRNA expression levels similar to those seen in human extraembryonic tissues. Studies of the cell-type-specific localization of HLA-G mRNA in placentas from the G.3.2 HLA-G transgenic mouse line show predominant localization of the HLA-G message in the spongiotrophoblast layer. This layer is in a similar anatomic location to the HLA-G-expressing human cytotrophoblast shell. The G.3.2 HLA-G transgenic mouse line should serve as an appropriate model for the study of HLA-G function at the maternal-fetal interface.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Z. Tan, A. M. Shon, and C. Ober Evidence of balancing selection at the HLA-G promoter region Hum. Mol. Genet., December 1, 2005; 14(23): 3619 - 3628. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. S. Goldman-Wohl, I. Ariel, C. Greenfield, J. Hanoch, and S. Yagel HLA-G expression in extravillous trophoblasts is an intrinsic property of cell differentiation: a lesson learned from ectopic pregnancies Mol. Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2000; 6(6): 535 - 540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Lin and D. I. H. Linzer Identification of Trophoblast-Specific Regulatory Elements in the Mouse Placental Lactogen II Gene Mol. Endocrinol., March 1, 1998; 12(3): 418 - 427. [Abstract] [Full Text]