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Seminal vesicle production and secretion of growth hormone into seminal fluid

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 1087–1090 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Production of foreign proteins in the tissues of transgenic animals represents an efficient and economical method of producing therapeutic and pharmaceutical proteins. In this study, we demonstrate that the mouse P12 gene promoter specific to the male accessory sex gland can be used to generate transgenic mice that express human growth hormone (hGH) in their seminal vesicle epithelium. The hGH is secreted into the ejaculated seminal fluids with the seminal vesicle lumen contents containing concentrations of up to 0.5 mg/ml. As semen is a body fluid that can be collected easily on a continuous basis, the production of transgenic animals expressing pharmaceutical proteins into their seminal fluid could prove to be a viable alternative to use of the mammary gland as a bioreactor.

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Figure 1: (A) Northern blot analysis of RNA extracted from various tissues of nontransgenic (-) and transgenic (+) male mice from the P12-hGH 2097 line.
Figure 2: (A) Northern blot analysis of RNA extracted from the seminal vesicles (S.V.) and kidneys (Kid) of male mice from the two P12-hGH transgenic lines (1, line 1027; 2, line 2097) and a nontransgenic male (N).
Figure 3: Immunohistochemical staining patterns of hGH on sections of the seminal vesicle and kidney of transgenic male mice.
Figure 4: Time course of hGH concentration in the vaginal plug extracts and serum from P12-hGH 1027 male transgenic mice.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the Société Innovatech, Québec et Chaudière Appalaches, Québec, Canada.

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  1. Département des Sciences Animales, Centre de la Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada

    Michael K. Dyck, Dominic Gagné, Mariette Ouellet, Jean-François Sénéchal, Edith Bélanger, Dan Lacroix, Marc-André Sirard & François Pothier

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Correspondence to François Pothier.

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Dyck, M., Gagné, D., Ouellet, M. et al. Seminal vesicle production and secretion of growth hormone into seminal fluid. Nat Biotechnol 17, 1087–1090 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/15067

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