Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether GFP transgenic mice can be used as a new animal model for hprt gene mutation test. METHODS：ENU was used to induce the gene mutation of GFP transgenic and normal mice. The dynamic of frequencies of micronuclei in peripheral blood PEC was compared between GFP transgenic and normal mice after ENU induction. DNA and mRNA sequences of hprt were tested in GFP transgenic mice. PCR-sequencing was used to detect six exons 1 and three exons 9. RESULTS：The dynamic of frequencies of micronuclei was consistent between GFP transgenic and normal mice after ENU induction. The materials of GFP transgenic mice were easier to confirm than those of normal mice. It reduced the false positive rate and false negative rate as well. The hprt gene sequences of GFP transgenic mice were complete. There were no significant differences in hprt gene sequences between GFP transgenic and normal mice. DNA sequences of exons 1 were consistent with the wild-type mouse. Two A∶T→T∶A substitutions occurred in exons 9 of hprt gene from mutation clone. CONCLUSION：GFP transgenic mice can be used as animal models for mutation test. GFP transgenic mice can be used as the animal model with high accuracy for hprt gene mutation test，which may reduce the difficulty of the test.

Key words: GFP transgenic mice, hprt gene mutation test, animal model, genetoxicity