Development and evaluation of transgenic nude mice expressing ubiquitous green fluorescent protein

Abstract

Purpose: Researchers had developed and characterized transgenic green/red fluorescent protein (GFP/RFP) nude mouse with ubiquitous RFP or GFP expression, but none has evaluated the level of immune cells and expression levels of GFP in this model. Procedure: The nude GFP mice were evaluated by imaging, hematological indices, and flow cytometry to compare the proportion of immune T cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was done for evaluating the relative expression of GFP transcripts in few organs of the nude GFP mice. Results: The hematological and immune cells of nude GFP were within the range of nude mice. However, the gene expression levels were relatively less in various tissues compared with B6 GFP mice. Conclusions: These findings suggest that nude GFP is an ideal model resembling normal nude mice; however, GFP expression in various tissues by fluorescence should be considered, as the expression of GFP differs in various organs.