Hepatic but Not CNS-Expressed Human C-Reactive Protein Inhibits Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Transgenic Mice

Figure 1

The nCRPtg construct and generation of nCRPtg mice. (a) The transgene comprises the protein coding region of the human CRP gene (huCRP; black boxes) fused to the mouse Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase α (CaMKIIα) gene promoter (open box). Small arrows indicate the approximate positions and directions of elongation of the intron-flanking sense and antisense primers used to ensure proper CRP mRNA processing, and the large arrows show the location of primers used to genotype mice. Horizontal dimension is not to scale. (b) Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplification products generated by human CRP specific qRT-PCR. mRNA for qRT-PCR was isolated from the cerebral cortex (CC) and cerebellum (CB) and qRT-PCR was performed using primers that flanked the CRP intron (small arrows in (a)). The size of the resulting reaction product (~290 bp) indicates excision of the intron. (c) Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay of cerebral (CC) and cerebellar (CB) homogenates from the same mice shown in (b). nd, not detected. WT, wildtype mouse.

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