Replacing the Promoter of the Murine Gene Encoding P-selectin with the Human Promoter Confers Human-like Basal and Inducible Expression in Mice

In humans and mice, megakaryocytes/platelets and endothelial cells constitutively synthesize P-selectin and mobilize it to the plasma membrane to mediate leukocyte rolling during inflammation. TNF-alpha, interleukin 1 beta, and LPS markedly increase P-selectin mRNA in mice but decrease P-selectin mRNA in humans. Transgenic mice bearing the entire human SELP gene recapitulate basal and inducible expression of human P-selectin and reveal human-specific differences in P-selectin function. Differences in the human SELP and murine Selp promoters account for divergent expression in vitro, but their significance in vivo is not known. Here we generated knockin mice that replace the 1.4-kb proximal Selp promoter with the corresponding SELP sequence (Selp(KI)). Selp(KI/KI) mice constitutively expressed more P-selectin on platelets and more P-selectin mRNA in tissues but only slightly increased P-selectin mRNA after injection of TNF-alpha or LPS. Consistent with higher basal expression, leukocytes rolled more slowly on P-selectin in trauma-stimulated venules of Selp(KI/KI) mice. However, TNF-alpha did not further reduce P-selectin-dependent rolling velocities. Blunted up-regulation of P-selectin mRNA during contact hypersensitivity reduced P-selectin-dependent inflammation in Selp(KI/-) mice. Higher basal P-selectin in Selp(KI/KI) mice compensated for this defect. Therefore, divergent sequences in a short promoter mediate most of the functionally significant differences in expression of human and murine P-selectin in vivo.