Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Mol Cell Biol, April 1998, p. 2382-2391, Vol. 18, No. 4
Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109-1024
Received 22 August 1997/Returned for modification 16 October
1997/Accepted 2 January 1998
Germ line transformation of white
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Human Matrix Attachment Regions Insulate Transgene
Expression from Chromosomal Position Effects in Drosophila
melanogaster
Drosophila embryos with P-element vectors containing
white expression cassettes results in flies with different
eye color phenotypes due to position effects at the sites of transgene
insertion. These position effects can be cured by specific DNA
elements, such as the Drosophila scs and scs'
elements, that have insulator activity in vivo. We have used this
system to determine whether human matrix attachment regions (MARs) can
function as insulator elements in vivo. Two different human MARs, from
the apolipoprotein B and
1-antitrypsin loci, insulated
white transgene expression from position effects in
Drosophila melanogaster. Both elements reduced variability in transgene expression without enhancing levels of white
gene expression. In contrast, expression of white
transgenes containing human DNA segments without matrix-binding
activity was highly variable in Drosophila transformants.
These data indicate that human MARs can function as insulator elements
in vivo.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Basic Sciences, A2-025, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N., P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109-1024. Phone: (206) 667-5217. Fax: (206) 667-6522. email: kfournie{at}fhcrc.org.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | J. Virol. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|
| Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. | Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | All ASM Journals |
|---|