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Sun WS, Yang H, No JG, Lee H, Lee N, Lee M, Kang MJ, Oh KB. Select Porcine Elongation Factor 1α Sequences Mediate Stable High-Level and Upregulated Expression of Heterologous Genes in Porcine Cells in Response to Primate Serum. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12071046. [PMID: 34356062 PMCID: PMC8304002 DOI: 10.3390/genes12071046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetically engineered (GE) pigs with various combinations of genetic profiles have been developed using heterologous promoters. This study aimed to identify autologous promoters for high and ubiquitous expression of xenotransplantation relevant genes in GE pigs. A 1.4 kb upstream regulatory sequence of porcine elongation factor 1α (pEF1α) gene was selected and isolated for use as a promoter. Activity of the pEF1α promoter was subsequently compared with that of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, CMV enhancer/chicken β-actin (CAG) promoter, and human EF1α (hEF1α) promoter in different types of pig-derived cells. Comparative analysis of luciferase and mutant human leukocyte antigen class E-F2A-β-2 microglobulin (HLA-E) expression driven by pEF1α, CMV, CAG, and hEF1α promoters revealed the pEF1α promoter mediated comparable expression levels with those of the CAG promoter in porcine ear skin fibroblasts (PEFs) and porcine kidney-15 (PK-15) cells, but lower than those of the CAG promoter in porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs). The pEF1α promoter provided long-term stable HLA-E expression in PEFs, but the CAG promoter failed to sustain those levels of expression. For xenogeneic serum-induced cytotoxicity assays, the cells were cultured for several hours in growth medium supplemented with primate serum. Notably, the pEF1α promoter induced significant increases in luciferase and HLA-E expression in response to primate serum in PAECs compared with those driven by the CAG promoter, suggesting the pEF1α promoter could regulate temporal expression of heterologous genes under xenogeneic-cytotoxic conditions. These results suggest the pEF1α promoter may be valuable for development of GE pigs spatiotemporally and stably expressing immunomodulatory genes for xenotransplantation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wu-Sheng Sun
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Hyeon Yang
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Jin Gu No
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Haesun Lee
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Nahyun Lee
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Minguk Lee
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
| | - Man-Jong Kang
- Department of Animal Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea;
| | - Keon Bong Oh
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju-gun 55365, Korea; (W.-S.S.); (H.Y.); (J.G.N.); (H.L.); (N.L.); (M.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-63-238-7254
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