Correcting an immune-response deficiency by creating E alpha gene transgenic mice.

We have introduced a cloned Ek alpha gene into embryos of mice incapable of expressing their endogenous E alpha genes. The transcription of Ek alpha was accurate and tissue-specific in the resulting transgenic lines and, in macrophages, Ek alpha transcription could be induced by gamma-interferon. The injected gene conferred on the genetically deficient host strain the ability to mount an immune response to a synthetic polymer.