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mBin1b transgenic mice show enhanced resistance to epididymal infection by bacteria challenge

Genes & Immunity volume 13, pages 445–451 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The mBin1b is a beta-defensin gene identified in the mouse epididymis. In the current report, its expression pattern and antibacterial activities were characterized, and a transgenic (TG) mouse model was developed in which mBin1b was exclusively overexpressed by up to 50-fold over normal levels in the caput epididymis. The experimental animals are healthy with normal reproductive activity, but are more resistant to epididymal infection from Escherichia coli than normal animals. The expression of IL1α and IL1β in the epididymis was decreased in the TG mice, which suggests that mBin1b has a role in the regulation of inflammatory response in the epididymis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Orgebin-Christ Marie-Claire for providing a epididymis specific promoter plasmid. The current work was supported by grants from the National High Technology Research and Development Program (2008AA02Z126), National Key Project (2010CB945501), E-Institutes of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (E03003), Shanghai Natural Science Program (07ZR14082), and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (10140902800, 10DZ2251500). We also thank Dr John Weldon and Jaime Eberle for their English language edition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Andrology, State Key Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Shanghai, China

    Z Fei, S Hu, L Xiao, C Wang & Y Zhang

  2. Shanghai Research Center for Model Organisms, Pu Dong, Shanghai, China

    Z Fei, J Zhou, S Fang, Y Wang, Y Wan, W Wang, Y He, G Xu, Z Wang & J Fei

  3. School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    W Wang & J Fei

  4. NPFPC Key Laboratory of Contraceptives and Devices, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Shanghai, China

    H Diao & H Yu

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  1. Z Fei
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  2. S Hu
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Correspondence to Y Zhang or J Fei.

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Fei, Z., Hu, S., Xiao, L. et al. mBin1b transgenic mice show enhanced resistance to epididymal infection by bacteria challenge. Genes Immun 13, 445–451 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2012.13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2012.13

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