Human CD2 3'-flanking sequences confer high-level, T cell-specific, position-independent gene expression in transgenic mice.

We have localized a set of T cell-specific DNAase I hypersensitive sites in the 3'-flanking region of the human CD2 gene. A 5.5 kb BamHI-XbaI fragment containing these DNAase I hypersensitive sites conferred efficient, copy number-dependent, T cell-specific expression of a linked human CD2 minigene, independent of the position of integration in the transgenic mouse genome. When linked to the mouse Thy-1.1 gene or the human beta-globin gene, this fragment conferred the same T cell-specific expression, independent of its orientation. These results suggest that this flanking region is both necessary and sufficient for full tissue-specific activation of homologous and heterologous genes in transgenic mice.