转座子Sleeping Beauty和PiggyBac

近10年来,得益于转座子Sleeping Beauty(SB)和PiggyBac(PB)的发现和完善,转座子作为一种遗传工程工具在脊椎动物的基因遗传研究中得到广泛应用.SB和PB宿主范围极其广泛,从单细胞生物到哺乳动物都能够发挥作用.转座过程需要转座序列和转座酶的存在,类似于"剪切"、"粘贴"的方式.转座子载体系统转座时可携带一段外源DNA序列,利用这一特性可以用于实现目的基因的转移,现已广泛用于转基因动物、基因功能研究、基因治疗等领域.当转座系统与基因捕获技术相结合,不仅可研究插入突变基因的功能,还能通过所携带的报告基因获得捕获基因的表达图谱.作为非病毒载体的SB和PB转座系统,由于具有高容量、高效率和高安全性等优势,并且PB在转座后不留任何足迹,不会造成遗传物质的不可预测改变,在动物基因工程以及基因治疗方面具有诱人的前景.

TransposonSleeping Beauty and PiggyBac

As a tool for genetic engineering, transposons have made major contributions to vertebrate genetic studies from gene delivery to gene discovery in the past decade. This is due to transposon Sleeping Beauty (SB) and PiggyBac (PB). SB and PB have a broad host range, from single-celled organisms to higher mammals. Transposition is the movement of the transposon, this process requires transposon DNA and the transposase enzyme. Transposon can used to introduce foreign sequences into the host genome. As nonviral vectors, SB and PB transposons system possesses critical safety and efficiency advantages over viral vectors. Compare to SB, PB transpon were much more efficient in transposition rates while SB present a local hopping trait. Complementary strengths of SB and PB can make a great potential application in genetic engineering, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) and gene therapy.