SIX Homeobox Protein 5 (SIX5)

Heath et al. (1997) used 2 different strategies to examine expression of the murine homolog of the DMAHP gene. The first approach, RT-PCR, detected spliced transcripts in a wide range of embryonic and adult tissues, in a pattern overlapping substantially with the expression of mouse DMPK. A second approach, the generation of transgenic mice expressing a lacZ reporter gene from a 4.3-kb DMAHP promoter fragment, also demonstrated expression in a range of tissues with potential links to the phenotype in myotonic dystrophy. They concluded that murine DMAHP has a similar pattern of expression to human DMAHP and that the mouse can serve as a useful model for functional studies of this gene, although species differences, such as the reduced CpG island (1.8 kb compared with 3.5 kb), must be kept in mind.