Xuewei  Li, Shen  He, Chong  Feng, Chuan  Long, Hongmei  Pan, Ning  Wang, Ningning  Shi, Fei  Wang, Yanrong  Zhou, Hongxing  Chen, Mingxing  Chu, Dengke  Pan, 
    Production of Wuzhishan Miniature Pigs Expressing High-Level Human CD46,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 13,Issue 10,
    2014,
    Pages 616-622,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2014.616.622,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2014.616.622)
    Abstract: The development of <I>&#945;-1,3-galactosyltransferase</I> 
  gene knockout pigs along with overexpression of human Complement Regulatory 
  Proteins (hCRPs) has been an important step in overcoming hyperacute rejection 
  when pig organs are transplanted into nonhuman primates. Most previous studies 
  have used commercial pigs as organ donors. However, little has been reported 
  about the use of inbred miniature pigs as genetic donors expressing hCRPs. As 
  expression of hCRP on the surface of pig cells, especially human membrane cofactor 
  protein (hCD46) could effectively protect them against human complement-mediated 
  rejection, researchers constructed an engineered hCD46 minigene expression vector 
  and generated transgenic Wuzhishan miniature Pigs (WZSP) expressing hCD46. Expression 
  of hCD46 with a distinct tissue-specific pattern similar to the human one was 
  observed using immunohistochemistry. Various tissues revealed strong immunostaining 
  in most epithelial tissues and vascular endothelium. Flow cytometry analysis 
  of hCD46 porcine AECs showed expression levels similar to human AECs. Complement-mediated 
  cytolysis of transgenic porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells (AECs) with human serum 
  showed significant protection. Distinct differences between ABO blood groups 
  were also observed with much less cytolysis of porcine AECs treated with B blood 
  group serum than with other serum types. In conclusion, transgenic WZSPs with 
  sufficient expression of hCD46 have been established successfully and will facilitate 
  further xenotransplantation research.
    Keywords: complement-mediated cytolysis;aortic endothelial cells;ABO blood groups;xenotransplantation;hCD46;Wuzhishan miniature pigs