University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Institute for Nutrition Research and Institute of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine

[Scientific staff | Publications within DiMI | References]

Group Description

The Oslo group has its main interest in studying gene regulation in relation to nutrition and disease. The groups involved from the University of Oslo have a long-standing expertise in transgenic mice technology such as the production and application of luciferase based reporter mice for optical imaging and genetically altered mouse models for inflammatory disease and cancer rejection. Regulation of gene expression is at the center of our understanding of normal development as well as most, if not all types of diseases. The need to follow the temporal and spatial patterns of expression of individual genes in vivo is therefore obvious. One of the transgenic reporter models developed by the group led by Professor Rune Blomhoff is a model whose expression of luciferase is controlled by three copies of the binding site for the transcription factor NFkB. NFkB is central for the development of several diseases and inflammation in particular. Using optical imaging in living mice we have demonstrated induced NFkB activation in response to classical inducers and modulators such as TNFα, IL1α, LPS, UVB, and chronic inflammation, while it is inhibited by dexamethasone. Apparently, many research groups concentrating on different chronic and degenerative diseases see this transgenic mouse models as a valuable tool for their own research. The transgenic reporter model has been distributed to several international research laboratories.
Previous studies in the Blomhoff group focus on transport, metabolism and function of vitamin A (retionoids). Based on these results we have published several invited reviews in journals like Science (1990), Physiological Reviews (1991), FASEB Journal (1991), Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (1992), Annual Review of Nutrition (1992), as well as the book on “Vitamin A in Health and Disease” (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1994) which was selected as one of the 250 best books in the world in medicine and health in 1994-1995.
The laboratory of Professor Bjarne Bogen at the Institute of Immunology, University of Oslo, has over many years established a transgenic mouse model that is used for studies on autoimmunity and cancer. By introducing the NFkB-luciferase transgenic mouse (Carlsen et al. 2001) into this system in collaboration between the Blomhoff lab and the Bogen lab, we have now established mice in which the development of autoimmunity and rejection of cancer cells can be studied by in vivo imaging.
Resources within the Oslo group include optical imaging device for animal imaging (IVIS 100; Xenogen, luminescence and fluorescence option), core facility for production of transgenic mouse models, strong research labs for molecular biology, immunology and analytical chemistry.