AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 258, Issue 3 C578-C581, Copyright © 1990 by American Physiological Society
Stable incorporation of a bacterial gene into adult rat skeletal muscle in vivo
D. B. Thomason and F. W. Booth
Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77225.
We have developed a novel technique to incorporate and stably express
foreign genes in adult rat skeletal muscle in vivo. Endogeneous satellite
cells in skeletal muscle regenerating from bupivacaine damage were infected
with an injected retrovirus containing the Escherichia coli
beta-galactosidase gene under the promoter control of the Moloney murine
leukemia virus long-terminal repeat. Constitutive and stable expression of
beta-galactosidase activity was observed in muscle fibers after 6 days and
1 mo of muscle regeneration. Two patterns of expression were observed,
diffuse expression within fibers and focal expression associated with the
sarcolemma. This technique will allow future experiments with
muscle-specific genes and promoters to study the physiological regulation
of skeletal muscle gene expression in the intact adult mammal. Furthermore,
the technique of stimulating stem cell proliferation to allow
retroviral-mediated gene transfer may be generally applicable to other
tissues.
