Kwaks THJ, Barnett P, Hemrika W, Siersma T, Sewalt RGAB, Satijn DPE, Brons JF, van Blokland R, Kwakman P, Kruckeberg AL, Kelder A, Otte AP. Identification of anti-repressor elements that confer high and stable protein production in mammalian cells.
Nat Biotechnol 2003;
21:553-8. [PMID:
12679786 DOI:
10.1038/nbt814]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2002] [Accepted: 02/14/2003] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The expression of transgenic proteins is often low and unstable over time, a problem that may be due to integration of the transgene in repressed chromatin. We developed a screening technology to identify genetic elements that efficiently counteract chromatin-associated repression. When these elements were used to flank a transgene, we observed a substantial increase in the number of mammalian cell colonies that expressed the transgenic protein. Expression of the shielded transgene was, in a copy number-dependent fashion, substantially higher than the expression of unprotected transgenes. Also, protein production remained stable over an extended time period. The DNA elements are small, not exceeding 2,100 base pairs (bp), and they are highly conserved between human and mouse, at both the functional and sequence levels. Our results demonstrate the existence of a class of genetic elements that can readily be applied to more efficient transgenic protein production in mammalian cells.
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