A Study of the Generation of Transgenic Chickens That Express Human SOD-3 Protein

ABSTRACT Lentiviral vector system is efficient vehicles for the delivery of exogenous genes, and it is generally used in the generation of transgenic chickens. In this study, we used recombinant lentiviral vectors to generate transgenic chicks that express the human superoxide dismutase-3 gene driven by the chicken ovalbumin promoter. It is well known that superoxide dismutases (SODs) are believed to play a crucial role in protecting cells against oxygen toxicity. There are three forms of SOD proteins: cytosolic Cu- Zn SOD, mitochondrial Mn SOD, and extracellular SOD (SOD-3). The recombinant lentivirus containing the human SOD-3 gene was injected into the subgerminal cavity of freshly laid eggs. Subsequently, the embryos were incubated to hatch using phases II and III of the surrogate shell ex vivo culture system. From 341 injected embryos, the 78 chicks hatched after 21 days incubation. The hatched chicks were screened for the human SOD-3 gene by using PCR. Two of 47 male chickens that survived to sexual maturity contained the human SOD-3 gene in their semen. These results showed that our transgenic chicken generation system was completely established. (Key words : Lentivirus, microinjection, human SOD-3, chicken embryo)