• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2005

One of the critical problems to be solved in transgenic animal production is uncontrollable constitutive expression of foreign genes, which usually results in serious physiological disturbances in the transgenic animal. To circumvent this problem, we constructed and tested two retrovirus vectors designed to express the GFP(green fluorescent protein) gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoters. To maximize the GFP gene expression at turn-on state, WPRE(woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element) sequence was introduced into the retrovirus vectors at downstream region of either the GFP gene or the sequence encoding rtTA(reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator). Transformed cells were cultured in the medium supplemented with or without doxycycline(tetracycline derivative) for 48 hours, and induction efficiency was measured by comparing the GFP gene expression level using fluorometry and western blotting. Higher GFP expression was observed from the vector carrying the WPRE sequence at 3' side of the GFP gene, while tighter expression control(up to 20 fold) was obtained from the vector in which the WPRE sequence was placed at 3' side of rtTA sequence. The resulting tetracycline inducible vector system may be used in transgenic animal production and gene therapy.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2007

In this study, using FIV-based lentivirus vector system, we tried to express hG-CSF in tetracycline-controllable manner. hG-CSF influences the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of cells in the neutrophil lineage. To enhance stability and translation of hG-CSF transcript, WPRE sequence was also introduced into FIV-Tet-On vector at downstream region of either the hG-CSF gene or the sequence encoding rtTA. Primary culture cells (CEF, chicken embryonic fibroblast; PFF, procine fetal fibroblast) infected with the recombinant FIV were cultured in the medium supplemented with or without doxycycline for 48 hours, and induction efficiency was measured by comparing the hG-CSF gene expression level using quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot and ELISA. Higher hG-CSF expression and tighter expression control were observed from the vector in which the WPRE sequence was placed at downstream of the hG-CSF (in CEF) or rtTA (in PEE) gene. This FIV-Tet-On vector system may be helpful in solving serious physiological disturbance problems which has continuously hampered successful production of transgenic animals and gene therapy.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2006

Endogenous 84 amino acid parathyroid hormone(PTH) is synthesized as a pre-pro hormone by the chief cells of the parathyroid glands. Physiological actions of PTH include regulation of bone metabolism, renal tubular reabsorption of calcium and phosphate, and intestinal calcium absorption. In addition, PTH stimulates new bone formation by extraordinary stimulation of osteoblastic activity and decreasing calcium excretion by the kidney. In this study, we constructed and tested retrovirus vectors designed to express the human parathyroid hormone(hPTH) gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoters. To increase the hPTH gene expression at turn-on state, woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element(WPRE) sequence was also introduced into retrovirus vector at downstream region of either the hPTH gene or the sequence encoding reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator(rtTA). Transformed primary culture cells(porcine fetal fibroblast, PFF, chicken embryonic fibroblast, CEF) were cultured in the medium supplemented with or without doxycycline(tetracycline derivative) for 48 hours, and induction efficiency was measured by comparing the hPTH gene expression level using two step RT-PCR and ELISA Higher hPTH expression($3{\tims}10^4\;pg/ml,\;5.3{\times}10^4\;pg/ml$) and tighter expression control(up to 8 fold) were observed from the vector in which the WPRE sequence was placed at downstream of the hPTH gene. The resulting tetracycline inducible vector system may be helpful in solving serious physiological disturbance problems which have been a major obstacle in successful production of transgenic animals.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.217-222
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• 2009

Controlled gene expression in specific cells is a valuable tool for gene therapy. We attempted to determine whether the lentivirus-mediated Tet-On inducible system could be applied to cancer gene therapy. In order to select the genes that induce cancer cell death, we compared the ability of the known pro-apoptotreic genes, Bax and tBid, and a cell cycle inhibitor, p21cip1/waf1, and determined that Bax was the most effective. For the cancer cell-specific expression of $rtTA2^S$-M2, we tested the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) promoter and determined that it is highly expressed in cancer cell lines, including SNU475 cells. The co-transduction of two lentiviruses that contain sequences for TRE-Bax and $rtTA2^S$-M2, the expression of which is controlled by the MMP-2 promoter, resulted in the specific cell death of SNU475, whereas other cells with low MMP-2 expression did not evidence significant cell death. Our data indicate that the lentivirus-mediated Tet-On system using the cancer-specific promoter is applicable for cancer gene therapy.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.959-965
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• 2015

Inducible and reversible gene silencing in desired types of cells is instrumental for deciphering gene functions using cultured cells or in vivo models. However, efficient conditional gene knockdown systems remain to be established. Here, we report the generation of an inducible expression system for short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeted to PTEN, a well-documented dual-specificity phosphatase involved in tumor suppression and ontogenesis. Upon induction by doxycycline (DOX), the reverse tetracycline transcriptional activator (rtTA) switched on the concomitant expression of GFP and a miR-30 precursor, the subsequent processing of which released the embedded PTEN-targeted shRNA. The efficacy and reversibility of PTEN knockdown by this construct was validated in normal and neoplastic cells, in which PTEN deficiency resulted in accelerated cell proliferation, suppressed apoptosis, and increased invasiveness. Transgenic mice harboring the conditional shRNA-expression cassette were obtained; GFP expression and concurrent PTEN silencing were observed upon ectopic expression of rtTA and induction with Dox. Therefore, this study provides novel tools for the precise dissection of PTEN functions and the generation of PTEN loss of function models in specific subsets of cells during carcinogenesis and ontogenesis.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.177-186
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• 2009

It is well-known that unregulated over-expression of foreign gene may have unwanted physiological or toxic effects in transgenic animals. To circumvent these problems, we constructed retrovirus vector designed to express the foreign gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoter. However, gene expressions in the tetracycline-inducible expression system (Tet system) are not completely regulated but a little leaky due to the inherent defects in conventional Tet-based systems. A more tightly controllable regulatory system can be achieved when the advanced versions ($rtTA2^SM2$) of rtTA and a minimal promoter in responsive components (pTRE-tight) are used in combination therein. In this study, we tried to produce human thrombopoietin (hTPO) from various target cells and transgenic chickens using the retrovirus vector combined with Tet system. hTPO is the primary regulator of platelet production and has an important role in the survival and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells. In a preliminary experiment in vitro, higher hTPO expression and tighter expression control were observed in chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) cells. We also measured the biological activity of the hTPO using Mo7e cells whose proliferation is dependant on hTPO. The biological activity of the recombinant hTPO from CEF was higher than both its commercial counterpart and hTPO from other target cells. The recombinant retrovirus was injected beneath the blastoderm of non-incubated chicken embryos (stage X). Out of 138 injected eggs, 15 chicks hatched after 21 days of incubation. Among them, 8 hatched chicks were hTPO positive. When the Go transgenic chicken was fed doxycycline (0.5 mg per 1 gram of feed), a tetracycline derivative, hTPO concentration of the transgenic chicken blood was 200 ng/mL. Germline transmission of the transgene was confirmed in sperm of the Go transgenic roosters. These results are informative to establish transgenic chickens as bioreactors for the mass production of commercially valuable and biological active human cytokine proteins.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2007

In this study, we constructed and tested retrovirus vectors designed to express the human thrombopoietin gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoters. To increase the hTPO gene expression at him-on state, WPRE sequence was also introduced into retrovirus vector at downstream region of either the hTPO gene or the sequence encoding reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator (rtTA). Primary culture cells (PFF, porcine fetal fibroblast; CEF, chicken embryonic fibroblast) infected with the recombinant retrovirus were cultured in the medium supplemented with or without doxycycline for 48hr, and induction efficiency was measured by comparing the hTPO gene expression level using RT-PCR, western blot and ELISA. Higher hPTO expression and tighter expression control were observed from the vector in which the WPRE sequence was placed at downstream of the hTPO (in CEF) or rtTA(in PFF) gene. This resulting tetracycline inducible vector system may be helpful in solving serious physiological disturbance problems which have been a major obstacle in successful production of transgenic animals.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2009

In this study we tried to construct a more efficient tetracycline-inducible gene expression system by replacing previous key elements with more advance ones. At the beginning, we substituted PGK (phophoglycerate kinase) promoter for CMV (cytomegalovirus) promoter to control "$rtTA2^sM2$" which has been known for high induction efficiency in response to tetracycline. With this modification, expression of the EGFP marker gene under the induction condition was significantly increased. Next, we replaced "TRE" fragment with a modified version named "TRE-tighf" which has been reported to have higher affinity and specificity to the transactivator by minor base change of the "TRE" DNA fragment sequence. Use of "TRE-tighf" instead of "TRE" resulted in more than 10 fold increment in terms of induction efficiency and significant decrement of background expression in non-inducible condition. By combining PGK promoter and "TRE-tight" fragment, we could upgrade previous tetracycline-inducible system to show more stringent turn on/off gene switch ability and stronger expression of the gene of our interest. Use of this newly developed system must be very helpful to the studies of gene expression, especially to the transgenic animal study in which non-controllable constitutive expression of the transgene has been one of the urgent problems to be solved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.125-125
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.125-125
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• 2005