Overexpression of Spermidine/Spermine N1-Acetyltransferase Under the Control of Mouse Metallothionein I Promoter in Transgenic Mice: Evidence for a Striking Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Transgene Expression by a Polyamine Analogue
February 1999
in “
Biochemical Journal
”
TLDR Overexpression of SSAT in mice causes hair loss, liver damage, and sensitivity to polyamine analogues.
The study created transgenic mice overexpressing the SSAT gene, leading to significant changes in polyamine levels and permanent hair loss, with the liver showing a notable reduction in spermine. Despite high SSAT mRNA levels, enzyme activity increased only moderately unless induced by ZnSO4 or DENSPM, which drastically boosted enzyme activity and depleted liver polyamines, resulting in high mortality and liver damage. This indicated that SSAT overexpression made the mice highly sensitive to polyamine analogues and suggested a post-transcriptional regulation mechanism for SSAT expression involving translational or RNA processing control.
