Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.3.1.28 (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase)
 5,100 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Inducible eukaryotic promoters, particularly those responsive to glucocorticoids or heavy metals, have been extensively used to study the consequences of induction of a target gene in mammalian cells. An alternative approach, intended to improve the selectivity of gene induction and to minimize perturbation of chromatin structure, is to utilize elements from prokaryotic regulatory systems that are unlikely to be shared by mammalian cells. We and others previously have shown that the lac repressor can function in mammalian cells and repress expression of a reporter gene controlled by a eukaryotic promoter containing a lac operator sequence. The reporter gene can be specifically activated by administration of the lactose analogue isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactoside. The target genes tested so far encode the biochemical and histochemical markers, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and beta-galactosidase. As a model system to establish whether or not the lactose regulatory system can also be used to effectively modulate a cellular phenotype, NIH 3T3 cells were made transgenic for a constitutively expressed lacI gene, encoding lac repressor, and an activated human Ha-ras gene directed by a simian virus 40 promoter within which a lac operator sequence had been embedded. In the absence of inducer, cells were phenotypically untransformed. Consequent to isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactoside administration, four biological end points characteristic of a transformed phenotype were observed. Consistent with transformation, the cells assumed an altered morphology; they displayed a reduced density inhibition of growth; they acquired the capacity to grow in soft agar; and they were released from a G0 block following serum deprivation. The data demonstrate that regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells by the lactose regulatory system affords a sensitive means for modulating cellular phenotype.
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PMID:Control of Ha-ras-mediated mammalian cell transformation by Escherichia coli regulatory elements. 173 61

Several pGEM5- and pUC19-derived plasmids containing a selectable erythromycin resistance marker were integrated into the chromosome of Streptococcus thermophilus at the loci of the lactose-metabolizing genes. Integration occurred via homologous recombination and resulted in cointegrates between plasmid and genome, flanked by the homologous DNA used for integration. Selective pressure on the plasmid-located erythromycin resistance gene resulted in multiple amplifications of the integrated plasmid. Release of this selective pressure, however, gave way to homologous resolution of the cointegrate structures. By integration and subsequent resolution, we were able to replace the chromosomal lacZ gene with a modified copy carrying an in vitro-generated deletion. In the same way, we integrated a promoterless chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene between the chromosomal lacS and lacZ genes of the lactose operon. The inserted cat gene became a functional part of the operon and was expressed and regulated accordingly. Selective pressure on the essential lacS and lacZ genes under normal growth conditions in milk ensures the maintenance and expression of the integrated gene. As there are only minimal repeated DNA sequences (an NdeI site) flanking the inserted cat gene, it was stably maintained even in the absence of lactose, i.e., when grown on sucrose or glucose. The methodology represents a stable system in which to express and regulate foreign genes in S. thermophilus, which could qualify in the future for an application with food.
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PMID:Directed genomic integration, gene replacement, and integrative gene expression in Streptococcus thermophilus. 833 Oct 64

Use of beta-lactamase in gene fusions to study membrane protein topology permits exploitation of its biological activity to select for positive (external) hybrids on ampicillin agar plates. When the enzyme is attached to cytoplasmic loops of a membrane protein, it is not secreted and is therefore unable to confer ampicillin resistance. In this study, we examine the use of the cytoplasmic enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (Cat) as a complement to the use of periplasmic beta-lactamase, in gene fusion studies. This enzyme is responsible for chloramphenicol resistance in Escherichia coli. We show that Cat confers substantial antibiotic resistance when fused to cytoplasmic loops of lactose permease. As expected, periplasmically exposed Cat is enzymatically active in vitro but unable to confer significant chloramphenicol resistance, presumably because of the absence of acetylcoenzyme A in the periplasm. Therefore, Cat may serve as a topogenic sensor in gene fusion studies. The new Cat fusion approach is discussed with regard to its potential use for selecting E. coli mutants which are defective in the assembly of membrane proteins.
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PMID:Biogenesis and topology of integral membrane proteins: characterization of lactose permease-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase hybrids. 871 79

Elements of the lactose operon were used to study parameters affecting gene expression in cultured cells and transgenic animals. A Lac repressor protein containing a nuclear transport signal was shown to inhibit expression of a reporter gene by interacting with lac operator sequences. In cultured cells, operator sequence, operator placement and induction parameters were all shown to be important for obtaining tight repression of a reporter gene followed by high level expression upon induction. Induction levels were also dependent on the reporter gene, with the luciferase gene yielding higher induction levels than the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. In transgenic animals, the lacI mRNA was not detected in the C57BL/6 mouse strain until the animal was exposed to a demethylating agent. After 5-azacytidine treatment, expression of lacI mRNA was detected in the brain, heart, kidney, lung and ovary. In the FVB transgenic mouse strain, expression of lacI mRNA was detected without 5-azacytidine treatment in the kidney, liver, lung, and testes. Preliminary experiments with double transgenic animals containing both lacI and operator/luciferase transgenes showed a decrease in luciferase expression compared to the luciferase-only animals in both tissue extracts and transgenic fetal primary cultures, although IPTG induction was not achieved in these animals or primary cultures. The applicability and challenges of the system for regulation of gene expression are discussed.
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PMID:Parameters affecting the use of the lac repressor system in eukaryotic cells and transgenic animals. 899 Oct 77