Kh. Kaestner et al., TARGETED DISRUPTION OF THE GENE ENCODING HEPATOCYTE NUCLEAR FACTOR 3-GAMMA RESULTS IN REDUCED TRANSCRIPTION OF HEPATOCYTE-SPECIFIC GENES, Molecular and cellular biology, 18(7), 1998, pp. 4245-4251
The winged helix transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor 3 gamm
a (HNF3 gamma) is expressed in embryonic endoderm and its derivatives
liver, pancreas, stomach, and intestine, as well as in testis and ovar
y. We have generated mice carrying an Hnf3g-lacZ fusion which deletes
most of the HNF3 gamma coding sequence as well as 5.5 Wb of 3' flankin
g region. Mice homozygous for the mutation are fertile, develop normal
ly, and show no morphological defects. The mild phenotype change of th
e Hnf3g(-/-) mice can be explained in part by an upregulation of HNF3
alpha and HNF3 beta in the liver of the mutant animals. Analysis of st
eady-state mRNA levels as well as transcription rates showed that leve
ls of expression of several HNF3 target genes (phosphoenolpyruvate car
boxykinase, transferrin, tyrosine aminotransferase) were reduced by 50
to 70%, indicating that HNF3 gamma is an important activator of these
genes in vivo.