Identification of the transgenic integration site in immunodeficient tgσ26 human CD3σ transgenic mice

Abstract

A strain of human CD3e transgenic mice, tge26, exhibits severe immunodeficiency associated with early arrest of T cell development. Complete loss of T cells is observed in homozygous tge26 mice, but not in heterozygotes, suggesting that genomic disruption due to transgenic integration may contribute to the arrest of T cell development. Here we report the identification of the transgenic integration site in tge26 mice. We found that multiple copies of the human CD3e transgene are inserted between the Sstr5 and Metrn loci on chromosome 17, and that this is accompanied by duplication of the neighboring genomic region spanning 323 kb. However, none of the genes in this region were abrogated. These results suggest that the severe immunodeficiency seen in tge26 mice is not due to gene disruption resulting from transgenic integration. © 2010 Ohigashi et al.