Regulatory regions from the Brn4 promoter direct LACZ expression Ito the developing forebrain and neural tube

To characterize cis-acting regulatory elements of the mouse POU-domain gene , Brain-4/Pou3F4, transgenic mouse pedigrees were generated that contained the LacZ reporter gene under the control of Brn4 5' flanking sequences. A s ix kilobase promoter region was identified that reproducibly directed expre ssion of the reporter gene to the forebrain and neural tube of developing m ouse embryos. Deletional analysis of this promoter region indicates that at least two positive cis-active elements can direct expression to the develo ping neural tube. These data characterize a transgenic promoter region that will be useful in directing expression to the developing neural tube durin g the ontogeny of the forebrain. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V .