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Mol Cell Biol, April 1998, p. 2382-2391, Vol. 18, No. 4
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

Stephanie J. Namciu, Karen B. Blochlinger, and R. E. K. Fournier*

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- 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 alpha 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.




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