Generating Vegfr3 reporter transgenic mouse expressing membrane-tagged Venus for visualization of VEGFR3 expression in vascular and lymphatic endothelial cells

Chisato Watanabe; Jun Matsushita; Takuya Azami; Setsuko Tsukiyama-Fujii; Tomoyuki Tsukiyama; Seiya Mizuno; Satoru Takahashi; Masatsugu Ema

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210060

Generating Vegfr3 reporter transgenic mouse expressing membrane-tagged Venus for visualization of VEGFR3 expression in vascular and lymphatic endothelial cells

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 2;14(1):e0210060. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210060. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Chisato Watanabe¹, Jun Matsushita¹, Takuya Azami¹, Setsuko Tsukiyama-Fujii¹, Tomoyuki Tsukiyama¹, Seiya Mizuno², Satoru Takahashi^{2

3

4}, Masatsugu Ema¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Stem Cells and Human Disease Models, Research Center for Animal Life Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.
² Animal Resource Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
³ Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁴ International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, Life Science Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (Vegfr3) has been widely used as a marker for lymphatic and vascular endothelial cells during mouse embryonic development and in adult mouse, making it valuable for studying angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis under normal and pathological conditions. Here, we report the generation of a novel transgenic (Tg) mouse that expresses a membrane-localized fluorescent reporter protein, Gap43-Venus, under the control of the Vegfr3 regulatory sequence. Vegfr3-Gap43-Venus BAC Tg recapitulated endogenous Vegfr3 expression in vascular and lymphatic endothelial cells during embryonic development and tumor development. Thus, this Tg mouse line contributes a valuable model to study angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in physiological and pathological contexts.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
Blood Vessels / metabolism
Cell Line, Tumor
Cell Membrane / metabolism
Embryo, Mammalian / blood supply
Embryo, Mammalian / cytology
Embryo, Mammalian / metabolism
Endothelial Cells / metabolism*
Female
GAP-43 Protein / genetics
GAP-43 Protein / metabolism*
Gene Expression
Luminescent Proteins / genetics
Luminescent Proteins / metabolism*
Lymphatic Vessels / cytology
Lymphatic Vessels / metabolism
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Inbred ICR
Mice, Transgenic
Microscopy, Confocal
Neoplasms, Experimental / blood supply
Neoplasms, Experimental / genetics
Neoplasms, Experimental / metabolism
Neovascularization, Pathologic / genetics
Neovascularization, Pathologic / metabolism
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / genetics
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / metabolism*

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
GAP-43 Protein
Luminescent Proteins
yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (to ME) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B, 18H02363), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (to ME). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.