THE 5'-FLANKING REGIONS OF IRBP AND ARRESTIN HAVE PROMOTER ACTIVITY IN PRIMARY EMBRYONIC CHICKEN RETINA CELL-CULTURES

Primary cultures of embryonic chicken cells from various tissues were transiently transfected with plasmid vectors containing reporter genes linked to a 1.8 kb fragment of the mouse interphotoreceptor retinoid- binding protein (IRBP) 5' flanking region, a 1.5 kb fragment of the mo use arrestin 5' flanking region, or a 3.4 kb sequence of the bovine ar restin 5' nanking region. Promoter activity was evident in retina-deri ved cells, but not in fibroblasts or cells from whole brain. Transfect ion response also varied with transfection method, plasmid DNA concent ration, post-transfection incubation time, and cell density. The data suggest that the primary embryonic chicken retinal cell culture system is a useful tool in studying photoreceptor-specific gene regulation. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.