Obtaining High Pest_resistant Transgenic Upland Cotton Cultivars Carrying cry1Ac3 Gene Driven by Chimeric OM Promoter

Hypocotyl segments from aseptic seedlings of two important cultivars of upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Northwest China, 'Xinluzao_1', 'Jinmian_7', 'Jinmian_12' and 'Jihe_321' were transformed respectively by two efficient plant expression plasmids pBinMoBc and pBinoBc via Agrobacterium tumefaciens . In pBinMoBc, cry 1Ac3 gene, which encodes the Bt toxin, is under the control of chimeric OM promoter. In pBinoBc, it is under control of CaMV 35S promoter. After co_cultivation with Agrobacterium tumefimpfaciens LBA4404 (containing pBinMoBc or pBinoBc), kanamycin_resistant selection, somatic embryos were induced and regenerated plants were obtained. Then the regenerated plantlets were grafted to untransformed stocks in greenhouse to produce descendants. The integration of cry 1Ac3 gene and its expression in T 2 generation of transgenic cotton plants were confirmed by Southern hybridization and Western blotting. The analyses of insect bioassay indicated that the transgenic plants of both constructions have significant resistance to the larvae of cotton bollworm ( Heliothis armigera ) and that cry 1Ac3 gene driven by chimeric OM promoter could endue T 2 generation cotton with high pest_resistant ability, implicating that it has a profound application in genetic engineering to breed new pest_resistant cotton varieties.

Cloning and Functional Analysis of the Porcine Growth Hormone Gene Promoter

[Objective] This study aimed to clone the porcine growth hormone gene promoter and determine the core promoter sequences and the cis-acting elements. [Method] Sequence of the 5＇flanking region of porcine growth hormone gene was searched out and downloaded from the NCBI website. According to the targeted se- quence, primers were designed and synthesized for the PCR amplification. The 1 882 bp （-1 821 bp-＋61 bp） fragment was amplified by PCR. Nine promoter frag- ments with different lengths were obtained by genome-walking deletion method and then cloned into luciferase reporter vectors. Relative transcriptional activities of these 5＇ terminal-deleted plasmids in pituitary and non-pituitary cells were determined by transient transfection of the rat pituitary adenoma cell （GH3）, porcine lilac endotheli- um cell （PIEC） and porcrne Kidney-15 （PK15） with the constructed dual-luciferase vectors. [Result] Result of DNA sequencing showed that the 1 882 bp fragment of GH 5＇ promoter was successfully cloned. Nine luciferase reporter gene plasmids were constructed. DuaI-Luciferase reporter assay indicated that the promoter inserted into reporter gene vector had very strong cell specificity. [Conclusion] Porcine growth hormone gene specifically expresses in pituitary cells. The minimal promoter of the porcine growth hormone gene is mapped at the region -110 bp-＋61 bp. Promoter regions 218 bp--110 bp and -429 bp--218 bp contain positive regulatory elements.

Cloning and expression analysis of the FvNCED3 gene and its promoter from ash(Fraxinus velutina)

The 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase(NCED)gene is rate-limiting in abscisic acid(ABA) biosynthesis.In this study, an NCED gene, designated FvNCED3(KY008746), was cloned from velvet ash(Fraxinus velutina Torr.) with a RACE method. The full length c DNA of FvNCED3 encodes a 573-amino acid polypeptide.Sequencing analysis showed that the FvNCED3 protein was highly homologous to other NCED proteins. The expression patterns of FvNCED3 in different ash organs were analyzed by real-time PCR which revealed that FvNCED3 expression levels were highest in leaves and lowest in roots. The gene expression patterns of FvNCED3 under abiotic stress indicated that its expression increased under drought, salt and ABA stress and decreased due to high and low temperatures. There were no obvious changes under ultraviolet light. The 1094-bp upstream sequence 5' flank regulation region of the FvNCED3 gene was also cloned from ash using the Genome Walking method. To assess the activity of the FvNCED3 promoter, a p FvNCED3 p::GUS plant expression vector was constructed for tobacco transformation. GUS expression of the FvNCED3 GUS enzyme activity was detected in almost all transgenic tobacco tissues, especially in the young leaves,stigma, anther, ovule and ovary. After treating the transgenic tobacco with NaCl and placing it under drought stress, GUS staining of tobacco leaves increased compared with that under normal growth conditions. This result indicates that gene expression driven by the FvNCED3 promoter can be induced by salt and drought stress.

Analysis of the methylation pattern of six gene promoters in sperm of men with abnormal protamination

It has recently been shown that alteration of the methylation pattern of imprinted genes is associated with different types of male infertility. The objective of our study was to investigate the methylation pattern of selected gene promoters in sperm of patients with abnormal protamine replacement. The promoters of OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, HOXC11, miR-17and CREMwere analyzed using bisulfite sequencing and the percentage of DNA methylation was compared between patients with an abnormal protamine l/protamine 2 （P1/ P2） ratio and normozoospermic controls. No significant quantitative differences were found between groups of patients with either an abnormally high or low P1/P2 ratio compared to normal controls. However, two individual samples from infertile subjects （2/20, 10%） showed an altered methylation pattern for the CREMgene promoter that was not found in control samples. These two samples had a significantly higher （P〈0.05） promoter methylation （5.58 and 4.23%, respectively） compared to the control group （0.46%）. In conclusion, in our pilot study, extreme methylations defects were not seen broadly in severely infertile men. However, two patients exhibited altered methylation of the CREMgene, which may be either causative or a result of abnormal protmaine replacement.

Construction and analysis of a plant transformation binary vector pBDGG harboring a bi-directional promoter fusing dual visible reporter genes

The constitutive promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus 35S （CaMV 35S） is a polar unidirectional promoter and is widely used in plant genetic engineering. In the present study, the unidirectional CaMV 35S promoter has been modified to a bi-directional promoter by fusing its minimal promoter element to the 5＇ end of CaMV 35S promoter in the opposite orientation. To qualitatively and quantitatively estimate its bi-directional transcriptional function and activity, two visible reporter genes, gusA （13-glucuronidase, GUS） and gfp （green fluorescent protein, GFP）, were fused to the two ends of the promoter in bi-orientations ending with NOS terminator sequences, respectively. Stable expression of gusA and gfp genes in transgenic tobacco （Nicotiana tabacum L.） was visulized by histochemically staining for GUS and fluorescence microscopic observation under UV for GFP in transgenic plants. The expression of two reporter genes showed that the constructed bi-directional promoter did have the bi-directional transcriptional function in both expected orientations. The quantitative estimation of GUS and GFP were determined on a HITACHI F1000 Fluorescence Spectrophotometer with various wavelengths of excitation and emission. The GUS activity varied from g to 250 pmol 4-MU/min/mg protein and the GFP content varied from 0.9 to 1.8 μg/ mg protein in various lines of transgenic tobacco plants. Higher GUS activity generally coupled with lower GFP content, and vice versa.

Correlating interleukin-10 promoter gene polymorphisms with human cerebral infarction onset

Evidence suggests that interleukin-10（IL-10） deficiency exacerbates inflammation and worsens the outcome of brain ischemia. In view of the critical role of the single nucleotide polymorphic sites-1082（A/G） and-819（C/T） in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene, we hypothesized that they are associated with cerebral infarction morbidity in the Chinese Han population. We genotyped these allelic gene polymorphisms by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction methods in 181 patients with cerebral infarction（cerebral infarction group） and 115 healthy subjects（control group）. We identified significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequency of the IL-10-1082 A/G allele between cerebral infarction and control groups（χ2 = 6.643, P = 0.010）. The IL-10-1082 A allele frequency was significantly higher in the cerebral infarction group（92.3%） than in the control group（86.1%）（P = 0.015）. Moreover, cerebral infarction risk of the AA genotype was 2-fold higher than with the AG genotype（OR = 2.031, 95%CI： 1.134-3.637）. In addition, AA genotype together with hypertension was the independent risk factor of cerebral infarction（OR = 2.073, 95%CI： 1.278-3.364）. No statistical difference in genotype distribution or allele frequency of IL-10-819 C/T was found between cerebral infarction and control groups（P 〉 0.05）. These findings suggest that the IL-10-1082 A/G gene polymorphism is involved in cerebral infarction, and increased A allele frequency is closely associated with occurrence of cerebral infarction.

E-cadherin gene C-160A promoter polymorphism and risk of non-cardia gastric cancer in a Chinese population

AIM: To test the hypothesis that E-cadherin gene (CDH1)C-160A promoter variant genotype is associated with an increased risk for developing gastric cancer.METHODS: In this population-based case-control study of gastric cancer in Jiangsu Province, China, we performed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to genotype the C-160A polymorphism of CDH1 promoter in 206 non-cardia gastriccancer patients and 261 age- and sex-matched but unrelated cancer-free controls.RESULTS: The frequencies of genotypes CC, CA and AA were 57.8%, 36.4% and 5.8% in gasfric cancer cases,respectively, and 58.2%, 34.9% and 6.9% in controls respectively. The distributions of CDH1 genotypes were not significantly different between gastric cancer cases and controls (P = 0.87 for genotype frequency and P = 0.92for allele frequency). Compared with the CC genotype, the CA and AA genotypes were not associated with an increased risk for non-cardia gastric cancer (adjusted odds ratios (OR)= 1.15, and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.78-1.72for CA genotype, and OR = 0.90 and 95% CI = 0.42-2.01for AA genotype).CONCLUSION: E-cadherin gene C-160A promoter polymorphism may not play a major role in the etiology of non-cardia gastric cancer in Chinese population.

Expression of Foreign Gene in Mycobacterium Regulated by Human Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Heat Shock Protein 70 Promoter

The DNA fragments of 150bp length promoter 0f human Mycobacterium(M.) tuberculosis heat shock protein (hsp)7O and 650bp length foreign gene, the Schistosoma japonicum glutathione S-transferase(Sj26GST)gene,were obtained by amplification with polymerase chain reaction. And the 150p DNA sequence upstream initiation codon ATG of the human M. tuberculosis hsp7O promoter that contains the sequence TTGAG and ATCATA which consensus with E. coli promoter's -35 and-10 region respectively, as well as ribosome binding site GGAGG at position-12-8 upstream the ATG were determined by SangerDideoxyribonucleotide-mediated chain-termination method-Then, the human M. tuberculosis hsp70 promoter and Sj26GST cDNA were cloned into E. coli-mycobacteria shuttle plasmid pBCG-2000 to construct E. coli-Mycobacterium expression shuttle plasmid pBCG- Sj26 that can express Sj26GST gene.The M. smegmatis were electroporated and the positivecolonies were selected by kanamycin-The M.smegmatis containing the vector pBCG-Sj26 can be induced by heating and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to express GST. The molecular weight of the recombinant GST(rGST) was 26000. The rGST contents that were about 10 percent of the total bacterial protein were analyzed by density scanning after running SDS-PAGE. This study would provide scientific evidences for application of hsp70 promoter in expressing foreign gene in mycobacterium and development of mycobacterium as multiple-valent vectoral vaccine.

Isolation and Characterization of Ell Gene Promoter from Tomato

A fragment of 2000 bp upstream sequence of Ell clone was amplified from genomic DNA of the tomato cultivar Zhongshu- 5. Sequence analysis showed that the upstream contains the regulatory elements： TATA box （-29 - -22）, CAAT box （-193 - -189）, wound, and drought response elements. Expression vectors of Ell promoter gus fusion were constructed with the promoters of 1 200 and 2 000 bp regions, respectively. Transgenic tomato plants were obtained through Agrobacteriummediated transformation. Histochemical analysis of GUS activity in various tissues showed that the two promoters were able to direct fruit-specific gene expression. The expression driven by promoter of 2 000 bp upstream fragment could increase GUS activity with the maturation of tomato fruits. The promoter of -1 200 bp fragment could direct gus gene expression in fruits with the inductions of drought and wounding. The regulatory region for fruit-specificity was probably located in the region of 1 200 bp of 5′-flanking sequence and some positive regulatory elements or enhancers may exist in the region from -1 200 to -2000 bp.

Regulated Gene Expression with Promoters Responding to Inducers

Genetically engineered transgenic animals and plants have proven to be extremely useful for analyzing biochemical and developmental processes.Promoters responding to chemical inducers will be powerful tools for basic research in molecular biology and biotechnological applications.Various chemical inducible systems based on activation and inactivation of the target gene had been described.The transfer of regulatory elements from prokaryotes,insects,and mammals has opened new avenues to construct chemically inducible promoters that differ in their ability to regulate the temporal and spatial expression patterns,and this will dramatically increase the application of transgenic technology.This review provides an overview on regulation of gene expression,promoter activating systems,promoter inactivation systems,inducible gene over expression,and inducible anti suppression.

Cloning and Characterization of Largemouth Bass(Micropterus salmoides) Myostatin Encoding Gene and Its Promoter

Myostatin or GDF-8, a member of the transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β） superfamily, has been demonstrated to be a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass in mammals. In the present study, we obtained a 5.64 kb sequence of myostatin encoding gene and its promoter from largemouth bass （Micropterus salmoides）. The myostatin encoding gene consisted of three exons （488bp, 371 bp and 1779bp, respectively） and two introns （390bp and 855 bp, respectively）. The intron-exon boundaries were conservative in comparison with those of mammalian myostatin encoding genes, whereas the size of introns was smaller than that of mammals. Sequence analysis of 1.569 kb of the largemouth bass myostatin gene promoter region revealed that it contained two TATA boxes, one CAAT box and nine putative E-boxes. Putative muscle growth response elements for myocyte enhancer factor 2 （MEF2）, serum response factor （SRF）, activator protein 1 （AP1）, etc., and muscle-specific Mt binding site （MTBF） were also detected. Some of the transcription factor binding sites were conserved among five teleost species. This infunnation will be useful for studying the tran- scriptional regulation of myostatin in fish.

Myostatin gene promoter:structure,conservation and importance as a target for muscle modulation

Myostatin(MSTN) is one of the key factors regulating myogenesis. Because of its role as a negative regulator of muscle mass deposition, much interest has been given to its protein and, in recent years, several studies have analysed MSTN gene regulation. This review discusses the MSTN gene promoter, focusing on its structure in several animal species, both vertebrate and invertebrate. We report the important binding sites considering their degree of phylogenetic conservation and roles they play in the promoter activity. Finally, we discuss recent studies focusing on MSTN gene regulation via promoter manipulation and the potential applications they have both in medicine and agriculture.

Effects of CMV Enhancer on Activity and Specificity of Bovine MyoG Gene Promoter

Connected a segment of CMV enhancer to the front of MyoG gene promoter and then constructed the corresponding dual luciferase expression vector pGL3-CMV-MyoGpro. We set four eukaryotic expression vectors including pGL3-CMV, pGL3MyoGpro, pGL3-CMV-MyoGpro, and pGL3-Basic which contained CMV promoter, MyoG promoter, CMV-MyoG synthesis promoter, and a promoterless negative control, respectively. Then the four vectors and internal control Renilla luciferase report gene vector phRL-TK were transfected into bovine skeletal muscle satellite cells, mouse C2C12 cells and bovine fetal fibroblast cells to detect the promoter activity with dual luciferase report system. The results showed that CMV enhancer could significantly improve the transcription activity of bovine MyoG gene promoter in muscle satellite cells and mouse C2C12 cells, and it had certain specificity. This study provided experimental materials for increasing the high expression of exogenous gene in bovine muscle cells, and also laid the molecular theoretical basis for obtaining the high specific promoter of bovine muscle and the transgenic beef cattle.

Study on RIZ1 gene promoter methylation status in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

AIM： To investigate the promoter region methylation status of retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene 1 （RIZ1） in the human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC） cell lines and tissues and verify the relationship between methylation of RIZ1 and oncogen- esis, tumor progression and metastasis etc of ESCC. METHODS： Methylation-specific polymerase chain reac- tion （MSP） was used to investigate the promoter region methylation status of RIZ1 in 6 ESCC cell lines. One cell line where RIZ1 promoter region methylation was de- tected was selected for the next study, where the cell line was treated with 5-aza-CdR. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate its influence on the transcription of RIZ1. Experiments using frozenpathological specimens from 47 ESCC patients were performed using the same MSP methodology. RESULTS： Promoter methylation of RIZ1 gene was detected in TEl3, CaEs17 and EC109 cell lines and the cell line TEl3 was chosen for further study. The expression of RIZl mRNA in TE-13 was up-regulated after treatment with 5-aza-CdR. The rate of methyla- tion in carcinomas tissues was significantly higher than those in matched neighboring normal and distal ending normal tissue, and the deviation of data was statisti- cally significant （2,2 = 24.136, P 〈 0.01）. Analysis of the gender, age familial history, tumour deviation, tumour saturation, lymph gland displacement and clinical stag- ing of 47 samples from ESCC patients showed that the fluctuation of data was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION： Promoter methylation may play an im- portant role in the epigenetic silencing of RIZ1 gene expression in human ESCC. RIZ1 is considered to be a potential tumor suppressor gene and may be a biologi- cal parameter for testing early stage human ESCC.

Effect of the Antisense BcMF12 Driven by the BcA9 Promoter on Gene Silencing in Brassica campestris L.ssp.chinensis

The study analyzed the silencing of BcMF12 gene regulated by BcA9 promoter in the transgenic pakchoi and confirmed the effect of antisense BcMF12 gene on the pollen development. A conserved BcMF12 gene fragment was amplified from the cDNA of flower buds in pakchoi （Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis, syn. B. rapa L. ssp. chinensis） and was fused to the anther specific BcA9 promoter. The plant antisense expression vector was constructed and then introduced into pakchoi via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transgenic plants were screened by antibiotics and molecular analysis. PCR and Southern blot revealed that the antisense BcMF12-GUS fusion gene regulated by BcA9 promoter was integrated into transgenic plants. Northern blot suggested that the expression of BcMF12 gene was down-regulated significantly. The pollen germination rate of transgenic plants with antisense BcMF12 gene decreased as compared with that of the control plants. The expression of the gene BcMF12 related to the pollen development was inhibited by the antisense BcMF12 driven by BcA9 promoter, which consequently affected the pollen development in pakchoi.

Cloning the Promoter of BcNA1 from Brassica napus and Fad2 Gene from Arabidopsis thaliana and Construction of the Plant Expression Vector

The upstream regulatory region of a seed specific gene was isolated from the genomic DNA of Brassica napus by PCR amplification. The cloned fragment contained 1755 nucleotides, and shared a sequence homology of 99.6% with the reported data. The coding region of oleic acid desaturase gene was then cloned from Arabidopsis thaliana. The sequencing analysis indicated that the sequence of the PCR product was just the same as reported before. In addition, the plant expression vector harboring the seed specific promoter and trans Fad2 gene was constructed.

Relationship between polymorphism of class Ⅱ transactivator gene promoters and chronic hepatitis B

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the polymorphism of class Ⅱ transactivator (CIITA) gene promoters and chronic hepatitis B (CHB). METHODS: Genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral blood leukocytes. Promoters Ⅰ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ of gene were analyzed respectively with polymerase chain reaction single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) in 65 patients with CHB, 26 patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB) and 85 normal controls. RESULTS: No abnormal migration was found in PCR-SSCP analysis of the three promoters in the three groups. Also, no sequential difference was observed at the three promoters among the CHB patients, AHB patients and normal controls. CONCLUSION: No polymorphism in promoters I, III and IV of CIITA gene exists in CHB patients, ABH patients and normal controls, suggesting that the promoter of CIITA gene might be a conserved domain.

Glucose-responsive artificial promoter-mediated insulin gene transfer improves glucose control in diabetic mice

AIM:To investigate the effect of insulin gene therapy using a glucose-responsive synthetic promoter in type 2 diabetic obese mice.METHODS:We employed a recently developed novel insulin gene therapy strategy using a synthetic promoter that regulates insulin gene expression in the liver in response to blood glucose level changes.We intravenously administered a recombinant adenovirus expressing furin-cleavable rat insulin under the control of the synthetic promoter(rAd-SP-rINSfur) into diabetic Lepr db/db mice.A recombinant adenovirus expressing β-galactosidase under the cytomegalovirus promoter was used as a control(rAd-CMV-βgal).Blood glucose levels and body weights were monitored for 50 d.Glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed.Immunohistochemical staining was performed to investigate islet morphology and insulin content.RESULTS:Administration of rAd-SP-rINSfur lowered blood glucose levels and normoglycemia was maintained for 50 d,whereas the rAd-CMV-βgal control virus-injected mice remained hyperglycemic.Glucose tolerance tests showed that rAd-SP-rINSfur-treated mice cleared exogenous glucose from the blood more efficiently than control virus-injected mice at 4 wk [area under the curve(AUC):21 508.80 ± 2248.18 vs 62 640.00 ± 5014.28,P < 0.01] and at 6 wk(AUC:29 956.60 ± 1757.33 vs 60 016.60 ± 3794.47,P < 0.01).In addition,insulin sensitivity was also significantly improved in mice treated with rAd-SP-rINSfur compared with rAd-CMV-βgal-treated mice(AUC:9150.17 ± 1007.78 vs 11 994.20 ± 474.40,P < 0.05).The islets from rAd-SP-rINSfur-injected mice appeared to be smaller and to contain a higher concentration of insulin than those from rAd-CMV-βgal-injected mice.CONCLUSION:Based on these results,we suggest that insulin gene therapy might be one therapeutic option for remission of type 2 diabetes.

Construction of Smac gene-containing and human prostate specific antigen promoter-regulated vector and its expression

To construct an eukaryotic expression vector containing Smac gene and study the expression efficiency and specificity of prostate specific antigen（PSA） enhancer/promoter in a possible targeted gene therapy scheme for prostate cancer. Methods： PSA enhancer （PSAE） and promoter （PSAP） sequences were amplified using PCR method. CMV and T7 promoters were deleted from pcDNA3.1-Smac and replaced by the two specific fragments to generate pPSAE-PSAP-Smac. After transfection into different cell lines, the status of cells was observed. And then, we determined the relative concentration of Smac mRNA in RT-PCR. Results： The recombinant plasmid of pPSAE-PSAP-Smac was successfully constructed. And only the prostate cancer cell line PC-3 was suppressed after transfection with pPSAE-PSAP-Smac. However, other nonprostate lines were not. Moreover, the concentration of Smac mRNA regulated by PSA promoter and enhancer was higher in comparison to the CMV promoter-driven control vectors. Conclusion： An expression vector containing the Smac gene （based on elements of the PSA gene regulatory sequences） has been developed and shown to function in prostate cancer cell lines which provides a solid platform for launching clinical studies.

Promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) is a prevalent and fatal cancer in China and other Asian countries.Epigenetic silencing of key tumor suppressor genes(TSGs) is critical to ESCC initiation and progression.Recently,many novel TSGs silenced by promoter methylation have been identified in ESCC,and these genes further serve as potential tumor markers for high-risk group stratification,early detection,and prognosis prediction.This review summarizes recent discoveries on aberrant promoter methylation of TSGs in ESCC,providing better understanding of the role of disrupted epigenetic regulation in tumorigenesis and insight into diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for this malignancy.