ADENOVIRUS E1A EXPRESSION CONTROLLED BY THE RED PIGMENT PROMOTER IN TRANSGENIC MICE - A MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENTAL ABNORMALITIES OF THE EYE

Four transgenic founder mice were produced that carry the adenovirus E 1A gene under control of the human red pigment promoter. Two of the fo under animals passed the transgene to progeny, and one line was bred t o homozygosity. The line of mice homozygous for the transgene expresse d E1A-specific RNA at a low level in their eyes; no expression could b e detected in other tissues that were tested. Either the founder anima ls or their progeny exhibited developmental abnormalities of their eye s, including a small eye phenotype, retinal dysplasia, anterior cleava ge syndrome, and retinal pigment epithelium dysplasia. Individuals fro m the same line of mice exhibited subsets of the abnormalities, e.g, m any animals had one normal size eye and one small eye, even though bot h eyes contained E1A-specific RNA. No tumors resulted from E1A express ion in animals monitored for 22 months.