Human and murine urokinase cDNAs linked to the murine alpha A-crystallin promoter exhibit lens and non-lens expression in transgenic mice.

cDNAs encoding either the human or the murine urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) were fused downstream from the promoter-enhancer element of the murine gene encoding alpha A-crystallin, a protein found exclusively in the ocular lens. The DNAs were microinjected into fertilized mouse eggs as linear fragments free of bacterial sequences, and for each construct one line of transgenic mice was generated. In both lines transgenic uPA activity was detected in the ocular lens, in agreement with previous results reported on transgenic mice bearing genes fused to the same regulatory region. Unexpectedly however relatively high levels of this activity were found also in the retina, and furthermore, human uPA activity was found also in different parts of the brain and in the bone marrow, and to a lesser extent in the spleen, thymus and optic nerve. Transgenic uPA transcript was found in the lens, retina, brain and thymus of mice carrying the murine cDNA. Such a pattern of expression was different from that exhibited by the endogenous murine uPA gene and, excluding the lens, it appeared to be conferred by the cDNAs. The putative regulation by uPA cDNAs is suggested to be mediated through an internal enhancer-like element functioning in combination with the alpha A-crystallin promoter in a fashion independent of the specific nature of the promoter.