[mRNA expression of vimentin gene in lens of transgenic mouse and DNA amplification in human cataract].

To investigate the role of vimentin gene in cataractogenesis, 12.7 Kb chicken vimentin genes were microinjected into the male pronuclei of 530 fertilized mouse eggs. 453 injected embryos were transferred into the oviducts of 18 pseudopregnant recipient females, of which 9 pregnant mice gave births to 37 offspring mice. The integration and expression of exogenous gene in the offsprings were analyzed by Southern and Northern blot hybridizations. It is shown that the E2 offspring was a transgenic mouse in which the chicken vimentin gene was integrated in its genome and efficiently expressed in mRNA level in its lens. In the human senile cataract lens, Bam-HI-restricted vimentin fragments displayed a stronger hybridization signal than that of the control lens in Southern blot analysis.