Figure 1.

Generation of FABP4-ghrelin transgenic mice. The coding region of the mouse ghrelin was amplified using forward primer 5′-GCG TCG ACA CAT GGT GTC TTC AGC GAC TAT CTG CAG TTT GCT ACT-3′ and reverse primer 5′-AAG GAA AAA AGC GGC CGC CAG TGG TTA CTT GTT AGC TGG CGC CTC-3′ to produce a full-length preproghrelin cDNA. The product was introduced 3′ to the FABP4 promoter sequences in a mammalian expression vector. Orientation and sequence identity were confirmed by sequencing the FABP4-ghrelin construct with primers flanking the insertion site. The plasmid construct was excised from vector sequences, gel purified, and used for pronuclear injection into fertilized oocytes.