Production of Brown/Yellow Patches in the SLC7A11 Transgenic Sheep via Testicular Injection of Transgene

Xin He; Hongtao Li; Zhiyong Zhou; Zongsheng Zhao; Wei Li

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2012.04.005

Volume 39 Issue 6

Jun. 2012

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Article Navigation > Journal of Genetics and Genomics > 2012 > 39(6): 281-285

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Production of Brown/Yellow Patches in the SLC7A11 Transgenic Sheep via Testicular Injection of Transgene

doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2012.04.005

Xin He^{a, #},
Hongtao Li^{b, #},
Zhiyong Zhou^a,
Zongsheng Zhao^b,
Wei Li^a

a
State Key Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
b
College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Xinjiang 832003, China

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail address: wli@genetics.ac.cn (Wei Li)
Received Date: 2012-04-06
Accepted Date: 2012-04-30
Rev Recd Date: 2012-04-27

Available Online: 2012-05-09

Publish Date: 2012-06-20

Abstract

Abstract

The gene, SLC7A11, which encodes the solute carrier family 7 member 11 (anionic amino acid transporter light chain, xCT), has been reported to be implicated in multiple processes such as in pheomelanin production, cell proliferation and migration, Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) entry into the host cells, learning and memory. Its involvement in cancer cell proliferation and metastasis has been widely studied. Its role in pheomelanogenesis is likely conserved in sheep. The full-length cDNA of sheep SLC7A11 was cloned from sheep skin fibroblasts for evaluating its role in regulating sheep coat color. The complete open reading frame of sheep xCT (sxCT) is 1512bp in length, encoding a 503 amino acid polypeptide. We explored its function on pheomelanogenesisin vitro and in vivo. In the melan-a non-agouti mouse melanocytes that mainly produce eumelanin, overexpressed sxCT reduced the content of eumelanin. Using a testicular injection transgenic method, sxCT-transgenic sheep were generated and exhibited patches of brown/yellow coat, suggesting that sxCT can be selectively expressed to increase the pheomelanin production in wool. Our studies suggest that testicular injection of transgene can be used to genetically modify sheep coat color.
- Melanin,
- Transgenic sheep,
- Colored wool,
- Testicular injection

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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References(15)

References

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