Deletion of a recombined Ig heavy chain transgene in B-lineage cells of transgenic mice.

Fully recombined transgenes are stable in their transmission in the germline of transgenic mice, in common with the endogenous genetic complement of most mammalian somatic tissues, including the genes for lymphoid Ag receptors somatically generated from germline minigenes. There have, however, been isolated reports of unusual low frequency transgene losses in various transgenic mice. Here we show, using Southern blots and PCR-based assays, that plasmablast hybridomas and B cells from three independently derived founder lines of transgenic mice bearing a recombined heavy chain Ig transgene we have been studying show a significant net loss of transgene copies. This loss is more marked in the B cells expressing endogenous heavy chains than in those expressing transgenic heavy chains. We have also examined cells of the B lineage in the bone marrow, and a small degree of deletion is also evident in CD19+ CD23- IgM- immature B-lineage cells. As greater deletion is observed in mature B cells, it is possible that the deletion process either continues into B cell maturity and/or provides a selective advantage. We have investigated the relationship between transgene expression and deletion, and we find that while thymocytes in these mice express the transgene well, T cell hybridomas derived from transgenic thymus do not show any loss of the transgene. Thus, a recombined Ig heavy chain transgene prominently undergoes somatic deletion in B-lineage cells independent of its insertion site or expression. This transgenic instability is significant to the analysis of genomic stability as well as to the design of gene therapy strategies.