Genomic structure and precise mapping of a thymic regulatory region on mouse chromosome 17 revealed by a c-myc transgene insertion.

In one transgenic strain harboring a human c-myc proto-oncogene construct, the transgene was actively and exclusively expressed in the thymus, where it contributed to the development of lymphoma that corresponded to CD4(+)CD8(+) cells. Here, we have pursued the analysis of transgene expression in healthy transgenic mice and show that transgene activation occurs in the thymus 3 days before birth, at a time when CD4(+)CD8(+) lymphocytes emerge. In the adult, its expression is restricted to the CD4(+)CD8(+) cells. The region flanking the transgene insertion site was isolated and made it possible to map the preintegration locus, hereafter called Tsil (for thymus-specific integration locus) on chromosome 17 between D17Rp11e and Ras12-3. A YAC that contains both Tsil and the Pim2 locus, previously shown to be involved in progression of T-cell lymphoma, was isolated. Analysis of Tsil offers a unique opportunity to identify a regulatory region or a gene that might play an important role in T-cell maturation.