Excessive Expression of the Scavenger Receptor Class A Type I can Significantly Affect the Serum Lipids
GAO Jun, LIU De-Pei*, HUANG Yue, DONG Wen-Ji, WU Min, FENG Dong-Xiao,
LIANG Chih-Chuan
( National Laboratory
of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing
100005, China )
Abstract
Scavenger receptor (SR) is characterized by its ability to bind negatively
charged macromolecules, particularly the modified lipoproteins that are pertinent
to the development of vascular disease. To determine the role of excessive
scavenger receptor A in the serum lipoprotein metabolism, transgenic mice
lines with mouse scavenger receptor A gene type I (SR-AI) under the control
of human SR-AI enhancer and metallothionein gene
promotor were established. After zinc induction, the expression of SR-AI
in transgenic mice was a little higher than the controls, but the serum lipids
levels were significantly different from the controls, especially the cholesterol.
These results demonstrated that overexpression of SR-AI
significantly affected the serum lipids levels.
Key words scavenger receptor (SR); metallothionein gene promotor; transgenic mouse; excessive expression; serum lipids
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