Establishment of a DsRed-monomer-harboring ICR transgenic mouse model and effects of the transgene on tissue development.

DsRed-monomer is an enhanced red fluorescent protein that may serve as a marker for studies in biotechnology and cell biology. Since the ICR mouse strain is a widely utilized outbred strain for oncology, toxicology, vaccine development and for aging studies, the objective of this study was to produce a DsRed-monomer transgenic mouse by means of pronuclear micro-injection of a vector driven by the cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer/chicken beta-actin promoter. Four transgenic mice were successfully produced, one of which expressed the DsRed-monomer protein in every tissue, although at varying levels.

Generation and characterization of a transgenic pig carrying a DsRed-monomer reporter gene.

Background: Pigs are an optimal animal for conducting biomedical research because of their anatomical and physiological resemblance to humans. In contrast to the abundant resources available in the study of mice, few fluorescent protein-harboring porcine models are available for preclinical studies. In this paper, we report the successful generation and characterization of a transgenic DsRed-Monomer porcine model.

Therapeutic potential of amniotic-fluid-derived stem cells on liver fibrosis model in mice.

Objective: Liver fibrosis results from the wound healing response to chronic liver damage. Advanced liver fibrosis results in cirrhosis and liver failure, and liver transplantation is often the only option for effective therapy; however, the shortage of available donor livers limits this treatment. Thus, new therapies for advanced liver fibrosis are essential.

Intramuscular Transplantation of Pig Amniotic Fluid-Derived Progenitor Cells Has Therapeutic Potential in a Mouse Model of Myocardial Infarction.

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a fatal event that causes a large number of deaths worldwide. MI results in pathological remodeling and decreased cardiac function, which could lead to heart failure and fatal arrhythmia. Cell therapy is a potential strategy to repair the damage through enhanced angiogenesis or by modulation of the inflammatory process via paracrine signaling.

Cell fusion phenomena detected after in utero transplantation of Ds-red-harboring porcine amniotic fluid stem cells into EGFP transgenic mice.

Objectives: Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) are derived from the amniotic fluid of the developing fetus and can give rise to diverse differentiated cells of ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm lineages. Intrauterine transplantation is an approach used to cure inherited genetic fetal defects during the gestation period of pregnant dams. Certain disease such as osteogenesis imperfecta was successfully treated in affected fetal mice using this method.

Ohx is a homeobox-encoding gene preferentially expressed in mature oocytes.

There is abundant evidence to indicate that the homeobox genes are developmentally important. We used the NCBI dbEST databases of early mouse embryos to identify novel homeobox-containing sequence tags. Ohx (oocyte-specific homeobox gene) was one of several genes identified by in silico cloning.