TWIK-1 BAC-GFP Transgenic Mice, an Animal Model for TWIK-1 Expression

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-10, Vol.10 (10), p.2751
• Main Authors: Kwon, Osung, Yang, Hayoung, Kim, Seung-Chan, Kim, Juhyun, Sim, Jaewon, Lee, Jiyoun, Hwang, Eun-Mi, Shim, Sungbo, Park, Jae-Yong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Antibodies; Artificial chromosomes; bacterial artificial chromosome transgenic mouse; Bacterial artificial chromosomes; Brain; Cerebellum; Cerebellum - metabolism; Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial - metabolism; Cloning; Cortex (entorhinal); Dentate gyrus; Dentate Gyrus - metabolism; Entorhinal Cortex - metabolism; Excitability; Gene expression; Granule cells; Green fluorescent protein; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; Hybridization; Kainic Acid; lateral entorhinal cortex; Mice, Transgenic; Models, Animal; Neuroglia - metabolism; Neurons - metabolism; Potassium; Potassium channels; Potassium Channels, Tandem Pore Domain - genetics; Reproducibility of Results; Rodents; Statistical analysis; Transgenic animals; Transgenic mice; TWIK-1; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells10102751

TWIK-1 is the first identified member of the two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channels that are involved in neuronal excitability and astrocytic passive conductance in the brain. Despite the physiological roles of TWIK-1, there is still a lack of information on the basic expression patterns of TWIK-1 proteins in the brain. Here, using a modified bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), we generated a transgenic mouse (Tg mouse) line expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the TWIK-1 promoter (TWIK-1 BAC-GFP Tg mice). We confirmed that nearly all GFP-producing cells co-expressed endogenous TWIK-1 in the brain of TWIK-1 BAC-GFP Tg mice. GFP signals were highly expressed in various brain areas, including the dentate gyrus (DG), lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC), and cerebellum (Cb). In addition, we found that GFP signals were highly expressed in immature granule cells in the DG. Finally, our TWIK-1 BAC-GFP Tg mice mimic the upregulation of TWIK-1 mRNA expression in the hippocampus following the injection of kainic acid (KA). Our data clearly showed that TWIK-1 BAC-GFP Tg mice are a useful animal model for studying the mechanisms regulating TWIK-1 gene expression and the physiological roles of TWIK-1 channels in the brain.