Selective isolation of mammalian genes by TAR cloning

Human Artificial Chromosomes and Their Transfer to Target Cells

Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) have been developed as genetic vectors with the capacity to carry large transgenic constructs or entire gene loci. HACs represent either truncated native chromosomes or de novo synthesized genetic constructs. The important features of HACs are their ultra-high capacity and ability to self-maintain as independent genetic elements, without integrating into host chromosomes. In this review, we discuss the development and construction methods, structural and functional features, as well as the areas of application of the main HAC types. Also, we address one of the most technically challenging and time-consuming steps in this technology - the transfer of HACs from donor to recipient cells.

Restriction-based Multiple-fragment Assembly Strategy to Avoid Random Mutation during Long cDNA Cloning

Long fragment cloning is a challenge for its difficulty in accurate amplifying and tendency to get unwanted mutation. Here we discuss Restriction-based Multiple-fragment Assembly Strategy's advantages and limitations. In this strategy, rather than PCR amplifying the entire coding sequence (CDS) at one time, we amplified and sequenced smaller fragments which are shorter than 1.5kb spanning the CDS. After that, the sequence-proved fragments were assembled by digestion-ligation cloning to the target vector. We test its universality in our script programmed in Python. Our data shows that, among the entire human and mouse CDS, at least 70% of long CDS cloning will benefit from this strategy.