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Characterization of Histone H2A.X Expression in Testis and Specific Labeling of Germ Cells at the Commitment Stage of Meiosis with Histone H2A.X Promoter-Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein Transgene¹

Department of Science for Laboratory Animal Experimentation,³ Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan Institute for Virus Research,⁴ Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Genome Information Research Center,⁵ Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

To study the complex molecular mechanisms of mammalian spermatogenesis, it would be useful to be able to isolate cells at each stage of differentiation, especially at the stage in which the cells switch from mitosis to meiosis. Currently, no useful marker proteins or gene promoters specific to this important stage are known. We report here a transgenic mouse line that under the control of the promoter for a histone variant, H2A.X, expressed an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in cells at the stage of the mitosis-meiosis switch. Endogenous H2A.X is expressed in type A spermatogonia through meiotic prophase spermatocytes in testis and in some somatic cells. However, despite the fact that its expression was driven by the H2A.X promoter, the EGFP expressed in the transgenic mice specifically labeled only the intermediate spermatogonia stage through the meiotic prophase spermatocyte stage in transgenic mice containing the -600-base pair H2A.X promoter/EGFP construct. Type A spermatogonia and somatic cells of other organs were not labeled. This expression pattern made it possible to isolate living cells from the testis of the transgenic mice at the stage of the mitosis-meiosis switch in spermatogenesis using EGFP fluorescence.

¹ Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, grant no. (A) 11234202, from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

² Correspondence: Yoshitake Nishimune, Department of Science for Laboratory Animal Experimentation, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. FAX: 81 6 6879 8339; nishimun{at}biken.osaka-u.ac.jp

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