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Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (dihydrofolate reductase)
5,819 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We previously reported the expression of human beta-interferon (beta-IFN) (Miyaji et al., 1989) and human lymphotoxin (Miyaji et al., 1990) in Namalwa KJM-1 cells adapted to serum-free medium. To establish an efficient gene expression system, a dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) gene coamplification method was applied to this cell line. A beta-IFN expression plasmid was introduced with a dhfr expression plasmid into KJM-1 and methotrexate (MTX)-resistant derivatives were selected by a stepwise increase of MTX concentration. Among them, derivatives which showed higher expression levels of beta-IFN than that achieved by the parental transformants were obtained, suggesting that a dhfr gene coamplification method can be used for efficient expression of foreign genes in KJM-1 which contains endogenous dhfr genes. Then, an improved beta-IFN expression vector was constructed, which contains a dhfr transcription unit. This plasmid was introduced into KJM-1 and then, MTX-resistant derivatives were selected. Among them, the highest producer, clone 40-10-24, secreted beta-IFN at a level as high as 5 micrograms/ml, which is about 100-fold higher than that obtained by the G418-resistant parental transformants. In addition, beta-IFN produced by recombinant KJM-1 cells had the same molecular weight of that produced by fibroblasts.
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PMID:Efficient expression of human beta-interferon in Namalwa KJM-1 cells adapted to serum-free medium by a dhfr gene coamplification method. 136 43

Bowes melanoma cells, which naturally produce tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), were transfected with a plasmid containing a human t-PA cDNA under transcriptional control of the promoter/enhancer of the major immediate early gene of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) plus genes expressing geneticin (G418) resistance and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). In one of the initial geneticin-resistant transformants, t-PA mRNA transcribed from the chromosomally integrated plasmid had the same short half-life, 20-30 min, as did mRNA transcribed from the endogenous t-PA gene compared to 7-8 h for total poly(A)+ mRNA. After subsequent selection of such cells with methotrexate, a cell line was obtained in which the t-PA cDNA construct was co-amplified with the DHFR gene and which produced 10 times more t-PA protein than the original Bowes melanoma cells.
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PMID:Endogenous gene and amplifiable cDNA construct both produce unstable t-PA mRNA in Bowes melanoma cells. 136 55

Radiation-reduced chromosomes provide valuable reagents for cloning and mapping genes, but they require multiple rounds of x-ray deletion mutagenesis to excise unwanted chromosomal DNA while maintaining physical attachment of the desired DNA to functional host centromere and telomere sequences. This requirement for chromosomal rearrangements can result in undesirable x-ray induced chromosome chimeras where multiple non-contiguous chromosomal fragments are fused. We have developed a cloning system for maintaining large donor subchromosomal fragments of mammalian DNA in the megabase size range as acentric chromosome fragments (double-minutes) in cultured mouse cells. This strategy relies on randomly inserted selectable markers for donor fragment maintenance. As a test case, we have cloned random segments of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) chromosomal DNA in mouse EMT-6 cells. This was done by cotransfecting plasmids pZIPNeo and pSV2dhfr into DHFR-CHO cells followed by isolation of a Neo + DHFR + CHO donor colony and radiation-fusion-hybridization (RFH) to EMT-6 cells. We then selected for initial resistance to G418 and then to increasing levels of methotrexate (MTX). Southern analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of rare-cutting restriction endonuclease digestions of DNA from five RFH isolates indicated that all five contain at least 600 kb of unrearranged CHO DNA. In situ hybridization with the plasmids pZIPNeo and pSV2dhfr to metaphase chromosomes of MTX-resistant hybrid EMT-6 lines indicated that these markers reside on double-minute chromosomes.
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PMID:Double-minute chromosomes as megabase cloning vehicles. 162 62

Angiotensinogen mRNA is found in many extrahepatic tissues, where it may participate in local angiotensin-generating systems. In this study we explore the feasibility of using anti-sense RNA to decrease angiotensinogen production in rat H4IIEC3 hepatoma cells. An amplifiable shuttle vector was modified to allow the production of high levels of stable anti-sense RNA from two regions of the mouse angiotensinogen gene under the control of the inducible sheep metallothionein promoter. Stably transformed, clonal cell lines expressing anti-sense RNA for angiotensinogen were isolated after selection with the aminoglycoside G418. Subsequently, the number of chromosomally integrated copies of the angiotensinogen anti-sense constructs was coamplified by methotrexate selection for dihydrofolate reductase activity carried on the shuttle vector. With a 20- to 30-fold induction of the anti-sense RNAs, the target angiotensinogen mRNA level was reduced to 25-30% of control values. The specificity of this effect was confirmed by showing no decrease in either beta-tubulin or neomycin phosphotransferase mRNA levels. Using tissue-specific promoters, it should be possible to direct these effects to specific organs in transgenic mice. However, in agreement with results from other groups, our findings suggest that it will not be possible to eradicate completely the target gene product using the anti-sense RNA strategy.
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PMID:Inducible anti-sense RNA for angiotensinogen in stably transformed hepatoma cell lines. 169 79

We have shown that the Leishmania major transfection vector pR-NEO (or derivatives thereof) can be introduced and stably maintained in four species complexes of pathogenic Leishmania (L. tropica, L. mexicana, L. donovani, L. braziliensis), and the genera Endotrypanum and Crithidia; transfection of Trypanosoma cruzi or Trypanosoma brucei was not successful. Quantitative plating assays showed that the transfection efficiencies were high in L. major and Leishmania amazonensis (5x10(-5)/cell) and about 10-fold less for Leishmania panamaensis and Crithidia. Leishmania donovani transfected with pR-NEO retained the ability to infect hamsters, and amastigotes recovered after 2 months yielded G418-resistant promastigotes which retained high levels of extrachromosomal pR-NEO DNA. In promastigotes, the transfected DNA existed as extrachromosomal circles, and expressed the predicted 2.4-kb hybrid NEO/DHFR-TS mRNA bearing the trans-spliced miniexon. Large quantitative differences were observed only in Crithidia: relative to transfected Leishmania species, the copy number of pR-NEO was elevated 20-fold, while the levels of the NEO/DHRFR-TS mRNA or Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (synthesized from the expression vector pX-beta GAL) were reduced 80 and more than 1000-fold, respectively. Thus, genetic signals derived from L. major DNA that mediate RNA expression or stability are recognized by the heterologous Leishmania species but less efficiently by Crithidia. These studies suggest that pR-NEO derived vectors may be applied to the study of genes expressed throughout the life cycle in a wide range of pathogenic trypanosomatids.
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PMID:Stable DNA transfection of a wide range of trypanosomatids. 190 80

Rat surfactant protein A (SP-A) was expressed in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cell line and characterized for biologic activity using assays for receptor binding and modulation of phospholipid secretion from isolated type II cells. The CHO-K1 cell line was cotransfected with separate plasmids encoding for the rat SP-A, dihydrofolate reductase and neomycin phosphotransferase, respectively. Antibiotic (Geneticin-G418)-resistant transformants were screened by ELISA for the secretion of recombinant SP-A into the media. Northern analysis of the transfected cell lines demonstrated the expression of both 1.6 kb and 0.9 kb mRNA species for SP-A, consistent with the proposed differential polyadenylation of the primary transcript. Amplification with methotrexate resulted in a dose-dependent increase in mRNA for SP-A and a 20-fold increase in the production of recombinant SP-A relative to untreated cells. Maximum production of SP-A was 370 micrograms of SP-A/l of media in a 4-day incubation. Recombinant SP-A was purified from the serum-free media of large scale cultures of transfected, amplified CHO cells by affinity chromatography on mannose-Sepharose. The recombinant SP-A migrated similarly to native SP-A by NaDodSO4-PAGE analysis under reducing and nonreducing conditions and under reducing conditions after digestion with N-glycanase. Recombinant SP-A effectively competed with 125I-native SP-A for binding to the high affinity receptor for SP-A on isolated plasma membranes from rat alveolar type II cells. The recombinant SP-A was as effective as native SP-A in the inhibition of secretion of phospholipid from isolated type II cells. We conclude that recombinant rat SP-A produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells is physically and functionally similar to native rat SP-A.
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PMID:Expression and characterization of rat surfactant protein A synthesized in Chinese hamster ovary cells. 217 80

To delineate segments of the genome of the human protozoan parasite Leishmania major necessary for replication and expression, we developed a vector (pR-NEO) which can be reproducibly introduced into L. major. This DNA was derived from a 30-kilobase extrachromosomal amplified DNA bearing the dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase gene, with the coding region for neomycin phosphotransferase substituted for that of dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase and a bacterial origin of replication and selectable marker added. G418-resistant lines were obtained at high efficiency by electroporation of pR-NEO (approaching 10(-4) per cell), while constructs bearing an inverted neo gene or lacking Leishmania sequences did not confer resistance. pR-NEO replicated in L. major and gave rise to correctly processed transcripts bearing the trans-spliced miniexon. Molecular karyotype analysis showed that in some lines pR-NEO DNA exists exclusively as an extrachromosomal circle, a finding supported by the rescue of intact pR-NEO after transformation of Escherichia coli. These data genetically localize all elements required in cis for DNA replication, transcription, and trans splicing to the Leishmania DNA contained within pR-NEO DNA and signal the advent of stable transfection methodology for addressing molecular phenomena in trypanosomatid parasites.
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PMID:Stable transfection of the human parasite Leishmania major delineates a 30-kilobase region sufficient for extrachromosomal replication and expression. 230 58

Gene therapy for the beta thalassemias and sickle cell anemia will require high levels of expression of human beta globin genes. One method to achieve this goal is amplification of globin genes transferred into the stem cells in the bone marrow of these patients. If the amplified genes remain normally regulated, they will then further increase their expression on being induced to differentiate along an erythroid pathway. To begin this study, we constructed a plasmid containing a neomycin resistance gene, a human beta globin gene, and a wild-type DHFR cDNA, and transfected it into mouse erythroleukemia cells. All the G418-resistant clones analyzed acquired and expressed the human beta globin gene. By serial passage of the cells in increasing concentrations of methotrexate, the exogenous human beta globin genes were stably amplified in all lines, and all increased their globin mRNA expression roughly proportional to their augmented copy number. Most of the clones further increased their beta globin expression on addition of an erythroid stimulus (dimethylsulfoxide). These results indicate that globin gene amplification may be useful in increasing globin mRNA expression in further experiments whose goal is gene therapy.
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PMID:Regulated expression of amplified human beta globin genes. 244 79

Amphotropic helper-free retroviral vectors containing either the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase gene (NEO) or a mutant dihydrofolate reductase gene (DHFR*) were used to infect canine hematopoietic progenitor cells. In previous experiments, successful transfer and expression of both genes in canine CFU-GM were achieved after 24-hour cocultivation with virus-producing cells. The average rate of gene expression was 10% (6% to 16%) as measured by the number of CFU-GM resistant to either the aminoglycoside G418 or methotrexate. In an attempt to increase the efficiency of gene transfer, marrow was cocultured for 24 hours with either NEO or DHFR* virus-producing packaging cells and then kept in long-term marrow culture fed three times with virus-containing supernatant (2 to 5 x 10(6) CFU/mL). After six days, cells were harvested and cultured in CFU-GM assay with and without a selective agent. The average rate of gene expression in CFU-GM in five independent experiments was 46% and ranged from 19% to 87%. In conclusion, the efficiency of gene transfer into canine hematopoietic progenitor cells has been increased fourfold by combining cocultivation with long-term marrow culture as compared with results obtained with cocultivation only.
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PMID:Improved retroviral transfer of genes into canine hematopoietic progenitor cells kept in long-term marrow culture. 275 7

The ability of recombinant DNA viruses to transfer genes into hematopoietic cells has been explored. A recombinant simian virus 40 (SV40) in which the early region had been replaced with the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene driven by the promoter from Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), was constructed. This virus transferred the CAT gene more efficiently into mouse and human bone marrow cells and into the K562, MEL, and WEHI hematopoietic tissue culture cell lines, than the classical calcium phosphate DNA transfer procedure, as shown by assay for CAT activity 48 hr after infection. Recombinant SV40 virions were also shown to be capable of stably transforming Chinese hamster ovary cells by use of an early region recombinant containing the methotrexate-resistant dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene driven by the RSV promoter. The entire DHFR transcriptional unit could be detected in the genome of transformed cells that were also shown to be resistant to methotrexate. A recombinant adenovirus stock containing the neomycin-resistance gene driven by the SV40 early promoter was used to infect the K562 and MEL hematopoietic cell lines to resistance to the antibiotic G418. Transformation frequency was 10- to 100-fold higher than that obtained with calcium phosphate-precipitated DNA. Most or all of the recombinant adenovirus genome was integrated as 1-3 copies in the transformed cells. These studies show the feasibility of using DNA viruses for introduction of new genetic material into hematopoietic cells.
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PMID:Transfer of genes into hematopoietic cells using recombinant DNA viruses. 298 41


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