The Oct4 promoter-EGFP transgenic rabbit: a new model for monitoring the pluripotency of rabbit stem cells.

The rabbit has long been used as a laboratory animal model for developing reproductive and stem cell-related technologies, as well as for studying human disease. The Oct4 transcription factor plays a crucial role in the maintenance and regulation of pluripotency in embryos and stem cells. We constructed a reporter plasmid containing the gene encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the rabbit Oct4 promoter (prOG) and transfected it into E14 mouse stem cells and rabbit ESCs. In addition, prOG transgenic fibroblasts were derived and prOG transgenic rabbits were produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The pattern of expression of ectopic EGFP was similar in E14 mouse stem cells whether under the control of the rabbit (prOG) or mouse Oct4 promoter (pmOG). EGFP expression was observed in rabbit ESCs following prOG transfection. Both prOG transgenic SCNT embryos and F1 prOG transgenic embryos derived from adult transgenic rabbits expressed green fluorescence at the morula and blastocyst stages. EGFP was clearly detected in gonads isolated from fetuses at 27 dpc. The prOG transgenic rabbit represents a new model for studying the derivation and maintenance of rabbit pluripotent cells, and for investigating rabbit embryo development.