Global Deletion of TSPO Does Not Affect the Viability and Gene Expression Profile

Huaishan Wang; Kangle Zhai; Yingchao Xue; Jia Yang; Qi Yang; Yi Fu; Yu Hu; Fang Liu; Weiqing Wang; Lianxian Cui; Hui Chen; Jianmin Zhang; Wei He

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167307

Global Deletion of TSPO Does Not Affect the Viability and Gene Expression Profile

PLoS One. 2016 Dec 1;11(12):e0167307. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167307. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Huaishan Wang¹, Kangle Zhai¹, Yingchao Xue¹, Jia Yang¹, Qi Yang¹, Yi Fu¹, Yu Hu¹, Fang Liu², Weiqing Wang³, Lianxian Cui¹, Hui Chen¹, Jianmin Zhang¹, Wei He¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunology, Research Center on Pediatric Development and Diseases, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Beijing, China.
² Beijing Thorgene Medical Laboratory, Yizhuang Biomedical Park, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Translocator Protein (18kDa, TSPO) is a mitochondrial outer membrane transmembrane protein. Its expression is elevated during inflammation and injury. However, the function of TSPO in vivo is still controversial. Here, we constructed a TSPO global knockout (KO) mouse with a Cre-LoxP system that abolished TSPO protein expression in all tissues and showed normal phenotypes in the physiological condition. The birth rates of TSPO heterozygote (Het) x Het or KO x KO breeding were consistent with Mendel's Law, suggesting a normal viability of TSPO KO mice at birth. RNA-seq analysis showed no significant difference in the gene expression profile of lung tissues from TSPO KO mice compared with wild type mice, including the genes associated with bronchial alveoli immune homeostasis. The alveolar macrophage population was not affected by TSPO deletion in the physiological condition. Our findings contradict the results of Papadopoulos, but confirmed Selvaraj's findings. This study confirms TSPO deficiency does not affect viability and bronchial alveolar immune homeostasis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cluster Analysis
Female
Gene Deletion*
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Targeting
Macrophages, Alveolar / metabolism
Male
Mice
Mice, Knockout
Organ Specificity
Phenotype*
Receptors, GABA / genetics*
Transcriptome*

Substances

Bzrp protein, mouse
Receptors, GABA

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China to JZ (31471016), CAMS Initiative for Innovative Medicine to JZ (2016-I2M-1-008), PUMC Scholarship for Young Scientists to HW (3332015109) and CAMS Central Public Welfare Scientific Research Institute Basal Research Expenses to HW (2016ZX310182-3). Beijing Thorgene Medical Laboratory provided support in the form of salaries for author FL, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of this author are articulated in the ‘Author Contributions’ section. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.