A hybrid bovine beta-casein/bGH gene directs transgene expression to the lung and mammary gland of transgenic mice.

We investigated spatial and temporal expression of bGH controlled by two different sizes (1.8 kb and 15 kb) of 5'-flanking sequences of the bovine beta-casein in transgenic mice. In the 1.8-kb promoter-containing mice, bGH expression was specifically confined to lung and mammary gland at lactation. While mammary gland expression was highly variable depending on the lines, lung expression was relatively constant with a high level in most lines. Moreover, this dual-tissue specificity of bGH expression was consistently retained in all of the 15 kb-promoter-containing mice, although a low ectopic expression was sometimes detected in salivary gland or brain. During mammary gland development in the 1.8-kb promoter-containing mice was mammary gland expression first detected at lactation, following the bovine rather than murine pattern of beta-casein expression. In contrast, lung expression was almost constant regardless of mammary gland developmental state or sex. Therefore, it can be concluded that a combination of the bovine beta-casein promoter and bGH gene directs a distinct dual-tissue specific bGH expression with different regulatory mechanisms between mammary gland and lung and as little as 1.8-kb promoter is sufficient for the proper regulation of the bovine beta-casein gene in mammary gland.