Construction And Genotype Identification Of Apolipoprotein M Knockout Mice

Objective To constuct apolipoprotein M (apoM) knockout mice and develop methodsof identifying an apoM genotype.Methods ApoM gene knockout mice were produced through routine homologousrecombination method. The genotype of the offspring was determined by polymerase chainreaction followed by agarose gel electrophoresis (PCR-AGE) and the base-quenched probetechnique.Results There are no obvious differences in common phenotype including growth,reproduction, hair color, activity, eating, temperature, and weight between the wild typeapoM gene, heterozygous knock out and homozygous knock out mice. Base-quenchedprobes produced different melting valleys. For wild type mice and homozygous knock outmice, a single melting valley was observed at57.14±0.33C and51.33±0.11C.respectively. And for heterozygous knock out mice, two valleys could be observed. Theresults showed a complete concordance between the base-quenched probe technique andPCR-AGE technique.Conclusions ApoM knockout mouse was constructed successfully. Base-quenchedprobe technique is precise, simple and economic, and it is suitable for genotyping apoMgene knockout mice.