Targeting of gene expression to skeletal and cardiac muscle of trangenic animals.

The tissue restricted and developmental potentiation of transcription by chicken alpha-skeletal actin promoter regions fused to the reporter gene chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) were characterized in transgenic mice. Six of eight expressing transgenic mouse lines containing the chicken alpha-skeletal actin promoter fused to CAT resulted in preferential transgene transcription in skeletal muscle tissue, similar to the endogenous mouse alpha-skeletal actin gene. Two of the eight lines departed from the preferred pattern of skeletal muscle expression with primary expression of the transgene in the heart, a tissue containing primarily cardiac actin isoforms. Developmentally, a transition from embryonic heart to fetal and neonatal skeletal muscle expression was produced by the transgene promoter, a pattern of regulation similar to that of the endogenous alpha-skeletal actin gene. Instances of departure of transgene expression from the endogenous gene implied the existance of higher order muscle gene regulatory mechanisms.