Monoclonal antibody analysis of simian virus 40 small t-antigen expression in infected and transformed cells

Use of an epitope-tagged cDNA library to isolate cDNAs encoding proteins with nuclear localization potential

We have combined epitope tagging with an expression cDNA library in order to isolate cDNAs encoding nuclear proteins. This system allows us to detect proteins expressed from the cDNA library by using antibodies against the epitope tag. As a tag, we used the 85-aa N-terminal peptide of the SV40 T antigen which lacks the nuclear localization signal (NLS). A strong expression vector, pEF204 [Kim et al., Gene 91 (1990) 217-223], was modified into an epitope-tagging vector, pTkim, by putting the tag-coding region and a cDNA cloning site immediately after its promoter. From cDNA libraries constructed using pTkim, we isolated eight cDNA clones whose tagged proteins were localized within the nuclei. From partial sequence analysis, two cDNAs were shown to code for the ribosomal (r-) proteins, simian L44 and human L21, and the others were shown to be new. Furthermore, six cDNAs including those encoding the r-proteins could direct a non-karyophilic T antigen [Fischer-Fantuzzi et al., Virology 153 (1986) 87-95] into nuclei, showing that they have NLSs. These results indicate that this system is useful for isolating new cDNAs which code for nuclear proteins.

pEXPRESS: a family of expression vectors containing a single transcription unit active in prokaryotes, eukaryotes and in vitro

We have constructed a family of expression vectors containing a single transcription unit that is active in Escherichia coli, eukaryotic cells, and in coupled in vitro transcription-translation systems. These vectors use the Rous sarcoma virus-long terminal repeat (RSV-LTR) as the promoter/enhancer for eukaryotic cells. In vitro transcription is made possible by inclusion of a bacteriophage T7 promoter. This same promoter is actively transcribed in E. coli that produce T7 RNA polymerase. Other features of this transcription unit include a high-efficiency eukaryotic translation start codon, a phage f1 origin of DNA replication for site-directed mutagenesis and a three-frame stop codon that facilitates C-terminal deletion mutagenesis. We term this vector family, pEXPRESS.