This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Namciu, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Fournier, R. E. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Namciu, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Fournier, R. E. K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

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.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Silicheva, M., Golovnin, A., Pomerantseva, E., Parshikov, A., Georgiev, P., Maksimenko, O. (2009). Drosophila mini-white model system: new insights into positive position effects and the role of transcriptional terminators and gypsy insulator in transgene shielding. Nucleic Acids Res 0: gkp877v1-gkp877 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gallagher, P. G., Nilson, D. G., Steiner, L. A., Maksimova, Y. D., Lin, J. Y., Bodine, D. M. (2009). An insulator with barrier-element activity promotes {alpha}-spectrin gene expression in erythroid cells. Blood 113: 1547-1554 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chetverina, D., Savitskaya, E., Maksimenko, O., Melnikova, L., Zaytseva, O., Parshikov, A., Galkin, A. V., Georgiev, P. (2008). Red flag on the white reporter: a versatile insulator abuts the white gene in Drosophila and is omnipresent in mini-white constructs. Nucleic Acids Res 36: 929-937 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Watanabe, S., Watanabe, S., Sakamoto, N., Sato, M., Akasaka, K. (2006). Functional analysis of the sea urchin-derived arylsulfatase (Ars)-element in mammalian cells.. GENES CELLS 11: 1009-1021 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Namciu, S. J., Fournier, R. E. K. (2004). Human Matrix Attachment Regions Are Necessary for the Establishment but Not the Maintenance of Transgene Insulation in Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24: 10236-10245 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Weber, M., Hagege, H., Murrell, A., Brunel, C., Reik, W., Cathala, G., Forne, T. (2003). Genomic Imprinting Controls Matrix Attachment Regions in the Igf2 Gene. Mol. Cell. Biol. 23: 8953-8959 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Giraldo, P., Martinez, A., Regales, L., Lavado, A., Garcia-Diaz, A., Alonso, A., Busturia, A., Montoliu, L. (2003). Functional dissection of the mouse tyrosinase locus control region identifies a new putative boundary activity. Nucleic Acids Res 31: 6290-6305 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Byrd, K., Corces, V. G. (2003). Visualization of chromatin domains created by the gypsy insulator of Drosophila. JCB 162: 565-574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ostermeier, G. C., Liu, Z., Martins, R. P., Bharadwaj, R. R., Ellis, J., Draghici, S., Krawetz, S. A. (2003). Nuclear matrix association of the human {beta}-globin locus utilizing a novel approach to quantitative real-time PCR. Nucleic Acids Res 31: 3257-3266 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ramezani, A., Hawley, T. S., Hawley, R. G. (2003). Performance- and safety-enhanced lentiviral vectors containing the human interferon-{beta} scaffold attachment region and the chicken {beta}-globin insulator. Blood 101: 4717-4724 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Majumder, P., Cai, H. N. (2003). The functional analysis of insulator interactions in the Drosophila embryo. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 5223-5228 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Donev, R., Horton, R., Beck, S., Doneva, T., Vatcheva, R., Bowen, W. R., Sheer, D. (2003). Recruitment of Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein A1 in Vivo to the LMP/TAP Region of the Major Histocompatibility Complex. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 5214-5226 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Liebich, I., Bode, J., Reuter, I., Wingender, E. (2002). Evaluation of sequence motifs found in scaffold/matrix-attached regions (S/MARs). Nucleic Acids Res 30: 3433-3442 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • West, A. G., Gaszner, M., Felsenfeld, G. (2002). Insulators: many functions, many mechanisms. Genes Dev. 16: 271-288 [Full Text]  
  • Lemon, B., Tjian, R. (2000). Orchestrated response: a symphony of transcription factors for gene control. Genes Dev. 14: 2551-2569 [Full Text]  
  • Rollini, P., Namciu, S. J., Marsden, M. D., Fournier, R. E. (1999). Identification and characterization of nuclear matrix-attachment regions in the human serpin gene cluster at 14q32.1. Nucleic Acids Res 27: 3779-3791 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Scott, K. C., Taubman, A. D., Geyer, P. K. (1999). Enhancer Blocking by the Drosophila gypsy Insulator Depends Upon Insulator Anatomy and Enhancer Strength. Genetics 153: 787-798 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Antes, T. J., Goodart, S. A., Huynh, C., Sullivan, M., Young, S. G., Levy-Wilson, B. (2000). Identification and Characterization of a 315-Base Pair Enhancer, Located More than 55 Kilobases 5' of the Apolipoprotein B Gene, That Confers Expression in the Intestine. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 26637-26648 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moritz, O. L., Tam, B. M., Papermaster, D. S., Nakayama, T. (2001). A Functional Rhodopsin-Green Fluorescent Protein Fusion Protein Localizes Correctly in Transgenic Xenopus laevis Retinal Rods and Is Expressed in a Time-dependent Pattern. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 28242-28251 [Abstract] [Full Text]