Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P00492 (hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase)
 2,385 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We describe the ability of novel episomally maintained vectors to efficiently promote gene expression in embryonic stem (ES) cells as well as in established mouse cell lines. Extrachromosomal maintenance of our vectors is based on the presence of polyoma virus DNA sequences, including the origin of replication harboring a mutant enhancer (PyF101), and a modified version of the polyoma early region (LT20) encoding the large T antigen only. Reporter gene expression from such extrachromosomally replicating vectors was approximately 10-fold higher than expression from replication-incompetent control plasmids. After transfection of different ES cell lines, the polyoma virus-derived plasmid variant pMGD20neo (7.2 kb) was maintained episomally in 16% of the G418-resistant clones. No chromosomal integration of pMGD20neo vector DNA was detected in ES cells that contained episomal vector DNA even after long term passage. The vector's replication ability was not altered after insertion of up to 10 kb hprt gene fragments. Besides undifferentiated ES cells, the polyoma-based vectors were also maintained extrachromosomally in differentiating ES cells and embryoid bodies as well as in established mouse cell lines.
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PMID:A polyoma-based episomal vector efficiently expresses exogenous genes in mouse embryonic stem cells. 887 48

We have analyzed the relative level of gene expression and viral titer from different types of retroviral vectors used for gene therapy, the LTR-based MFG vector and the internal promoter-containing vectors, LNCX, LNSX and LXSN. The CAT gene was used for comparison of retroviral vector gene expression in both transfected and transduced cells, while the neo gene was used to evaluate viral liter. In transfected cells, MFG-CAT expressed higher levels of CAT then the other vectors, LNC-CAT was next, while L-CAT-SN and LNS-CAT produced much lower levels. CAT expression from MFG-CAT was particularly high in the human T lymphoid cell lines CEM-SS and H9. In nonselected transduced cells. CAT expression from MFG was 10- to 50-fold higher than with the other vectors. Similar observations were made with retroviral constructs expressing human EPO and murine GM-CSF. In transient transfection assays, the titer of MFG was at least five-fold higher than the other vectors as determined by Southern analysis and G418 resistance. Analysis of the steady-state RNAs produced after transfection of the packaging cell lines showed that MFG expressed a significantly higher level of genomic RNA, which contains the packaging signal, than the other vectors while still expressing a high level of the subgenomic RNA encoding CAT. The high level of genomic RNA most likely contributes directly to the higher titer of MFG. We also compared viral titers from subcloned PA317 producer lines containing LNC-CAT and MFG-CAT-Neo, and confirmed that the titer of the MFG virus was higher than that of the LNCX. In selected subcloned transduced NIH3T3 cells, average levels of CAT activity were nine-fold higher from MFG-based vector. Our results suggest that there are significant differences in both the titer and the level of gene expression between retroviral vectors which are currently being used in gene therapy clinical trials.
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PMID:Analysis of the relative level of gene expression from different retroviral vectors used for gene therapy. 887 26

We have utilized (CHO)-PL61 cells to characterize the mutations produced in mammalian cells by exogenous treatment with the nucleoside 5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (hmdUrd). HmdUrd is incorporated into DNA as a thymidine analogue and is removed by the repair enzyme hmUra-DNA glycosylase. PL61 cells are hprt(-) and contain adjacent single copies of the Escherichia coli gpt and neo genes (gpt+, neo+) separated by 2 kb, rendering the cells thioguanine sensitive (TGs) and geneticin resistant (G418r). Cells were exposed to hmdUrd and the colonies resistant to thioguanine or thioguanine and G418 were selected. Selection in thioguanine alone (TGr/gpt(-)) allows the growth of all gpt(-) mutants (small, intermediate and large deletions/insertions and point mutations) while selection in thioguanine and G418 (TGr/gpt(-), G418r/neo+) prevents survival of colonies containing vary large deletions of the gpt gene that include the neo gene. To confirm the types of mutation at the molecular level, the gpt gene was amplified from mutants' genomic DNA by PCR, and the amplified DNA was sequenced directly by the dideoxy method. Our study showed that 4 microM hmdUrd induced mutations to TGr/gpt(-) at a rate 3-4 times that of control, but showed no marked increase in mutation to TGr/gpt(-), G418r/neo+. The predominant type of hmdUrd induced mutation in the thioguanine resistant cells at the gpt locus was complete loss of the gpt gene resulting from a large deletion. Background mutations were generally point mutations or small insertion/deletion mutations. We propose that hmdUrd induces large/intermediate deletions as a major type of mutations in mammalian cells as a consequence of DNA repair, and not as a result of misincorporation or mispairing, suggesting that base excision repair by itself can lead to large deletion mutagenesis.
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PMID:Molecular spectrum of mutations induced by 5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxyuridine in (CHO)-PL61 cells. 901 61

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a chemokine for neutrophils and an angiogenic factor. Human tumors that express IL-8 may exhibit intense neutrophil infiltration and increased vascularization. Mutatect cells are a murine fibrosarcoma that can be grown as subcutaneous tumors in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. Since neutrophils are a source of cytotoxic and genotoxic species, we constructed Mutatect cell lines that constitutively express human IL-8 to explore the involvement of neutrophils in tumor biology and genetic instability. An IL-8/neo expression plasmid was stably transfected into Mutatect MC17-51 cells and clone MIL-4 was isolated. Tumors initiated with 5x10(5) MIL-4 cells grew very slowly compared with tumors from pure MC17-51 cells or from 0.5 to 4x10(5) MIL-4 cells mixed with 5x10(5) MC17-51 cells. Over 95% of cells recovered from slow-growing pure MIL-4 tumors lost the transgene as measured by loss of (i) resistance to G418, (ii) expression of IL-8 protein and (iii) IL-8-specific DNA sequences. When tumors from mixed cell types were examined, loss of the transgene did not occur; rather, IL-8 producing cells appeared to have some growth advantage. The neutrophil content of tumors (as measured by myeloperoxidase) was directly proportional to the level of IL-8 expressed at the time tumors were excised. As reported earlier, the frequency of mutations at the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase locus was also directly proportional to neutrophil content. To explain some of these biological findings, we postulate that early in development of pure MIL-4 tumors, genotoxic/cytotoxic neutrophils are attracted by IL-8, which in turn leads to loss of the transgene and to localized cytotoxicity of IL-8 producing cells. In mixed tumors, where the initial IL-8 concentration may be lower, tumors might become established more readily because fewer neutrophils may be attracted. This relatively simple experimental paradigm has revealed some of the complex biological changes that can occur as a result of IL-8 in tumors.
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PMID:Constitutive expression of interleukin-8 by Mutatect cells markedly affects their tumor biology. 1118 44

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells easily differentiate towards the cardiac lineage making them suitable as an in vitro model to study cardiogenesis and as a potential source of transplantable cells. In this study, we show by in situ hybridisation that about 30% of the volume of cultures of differentiating ES cells consists of cardiomyocytes. RT-PCR analyses showed that the transcription factors Nkx2.5, Gata4, Mef2c and Irx4 were expressed at levels in the same order of magnitude as the levels observed in embryonic, neonatal and adult hearts. Atrial natriuretic factor and Connexin 40, associated with chamber formation in vivo, are expressed at relatively low levels, similar to those observed at early heart development in vivo. To facilitate the isolation of ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes, a cell line was constructed by stable transfection of the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase cDNA driven by the cardiac-specific distant upstream part of the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger promoter. To accomplish single-copy integration, the construct was inserted into the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase locus of HM1 ES cells by homologous recombination. Cardiac-specific resistance to G418-sulphate (neomycin) allowed isolation of a pure population of cardiomyocytes. Genetically selected and unselected cell populations were characterised electrophysiologically using patch clamp. To explore whether clusters of cells have a similar differentiation profile, action potentials (APs) were measured in aggregates of differentiating ES cells, using a new method based on the voltage-dependent fluorescent dye di-4-ANEPPS. Both whole-cell recordings using patch-clamp and optical measurements with di-4-ANEPPS of the AP showed that upstroke velocity increases and AP duration decreases with differentiation time, accompanied by a decrease in AP interval, suggesting the initiation of the developmental programme underlying the formation of chamber myocardium.
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PMID:Cardiomyocytes purified from differentiated embryonic stem cells exhibit characteristics of early chamber myocardium. 1465 72

The rat is the preferred experimental animal in many biological studies. With the recent derivation of authentic rat embryonic stem (ES) cells it is now feasible to apply state-of-the art genetic engineering in this species using homologous recombination. To establish whether rat ES cells are amenable to in vivo recombination, we tested targeted disruption of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (hprt) locus in ES cells derived from both inbred and outbred strains of rats. Targeting vectors that replace exons 7 and 8 of the hprt gene with neomycinR/thymidine kinase selection cassettes were electroporated into male Fisher F344 and Sprague Dawley rat ES cells. Approximately 2% of the G418 resistant colonies also tolerated selection with 6-thioguanine, indicating inactivation of the hprt gene. PCR and Southern blot analysis confirmed correct site-specific targeting of the hprt locus in these clones. Embryoid body and monolayer differentiation of targeted cell lines established that they retained differentiation potential following targeting and selection. This report demonstrates that gene modification via homologous recombination in rat ES cells is efficient, and should facilitate implementation of targeted, genetic manipulation in the rat.
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PMID:Efficient gene targeting by homologous recombination in rat embryonic stem cells. 2115 76


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