New rat model lights up infertility and autoimmune research
30 March 2009
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool used luminescent and fluorescent genes from fireflies and jellyfish to track prolactin, a hormone essential in producing breastmilk but which is overproduced by some pituitary tumours, causing infertility.
Prolactin is involved in over 300 functions in the body and has been linked to autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. However, much of our knowledge is gleaned from work on cell lines, with little known about when and where prolactin appears in a whole living organism.
To address this, the researchers created a transgenic rat, putting the genes for luciferase (the enzyme that enables fireflies to emit light) and green fluorescent protein (which allows some jellyfish to glow in certain types of light) next to the prolactin gene. When the hormone is produced, so is luciferase and green fluorescent protein.
This will allow scientists to see exactly where prolactin is being produced and how it is working in real time. The researchers have already shown that prolactin is active in the pituitary gland, spleen, thymus (which helps protect against autoimmunity) and inflammatory cells in the abdomen.
Dr Sabrina Semprini, from the University of Edinburgh and one of the researchers, said, “The lighting up of cells expressing this hormone will help us to understand its role within the body and could help research looking for treatments for conditions in which prolactin is involved.”
Image:
Caption: Transgenic zebrafish embryos expressing green fluorescent protein
Credit: S Roy, Wellcome Images
References
Semprini S et al. Real-time visualisation of human prolactin alternate promoter usage In vivo using a double-transgenic rat model. Molecular Endocrinology, published online before print 15 January 2009.