5'-noncoding region sacR is the target of all identified regulation affecting the levansucrase gene in Bacillus subtilis.

The regulation of the levansucrase gene sacB was studied in Bacillus subtilis strains. Fusions were constructed in which genes of cytoplasmic proteins such as lacZ were placed immediately downstream from sacR, the regulatory region located upstream from sacB. These fusions were introduced in mutants affected in sacB regulation. In all cases the marker gene was affected in the same way as sacB by the genetic context. This result is of particular interest for the sacU pleiotropic mutations, which affect sacB expression and other cellular functions such as the synthesis of several exocellular enzymes. We also showed that strains harboring sacU+ or sacU-hyperproducing alleles contained different amounts of sacB mRNA, which was proportional to their levansucrase secretion. We concluded that the sacU gene does not affect sacB expression at the level of secretion but acts on a target within sacR. We discuss the possibility that sacU acts on a part of sacR, a homologous copy of which was found upstream from the gene of another sacU-dependent secreted enzyme of B. subtilis, beta-glucanase.     

mRNA stability and antibody production in CHO cells: Improvement through gene optimization

The productivity of stably transfected cell lines is of critical importance for the manufacturing of therapeutic proteins. Various methods have been successfully implemented to increase the production output of mammalian cell cultures. Increasing evidence suggests that optimization of the gene coding sequences of an expression vector can improve specific cell line yield of the recombinant protein. Here we demonstrate that gene optimization substantially enhances antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary cells. When gene optimization was applied to the heavy and light chain genes of a therapeutic antibody, we observed increased antibody production in transient transfection. Elevated heavy chain mRNA level was associated with the increase of antibody production. Further analysis suggested that the increased antibody expression is attributable to enhanced mRNA stability resulting from gene optimization. Gene optimization also led to increased antibody production in stable clones.     

Distinct control sites located upstream from the levansucrase gene of Bacillus subtilis

The sacR regulatory region, which modulates the expression of sacB, the structural gene for levansucrase, was separated into two parts: an upstream region which carries a constitutive promoter and a downstream region which carries a palindromic structure. Three types of fusions were constructed in which the aphA3 gene coding for kanamycin resistance of Streptococcus faecalis was placed downstream from different deleted sacR regions. Other fusions were constructed by inserting a promoter from phage SPO1 upstream from the sacB gene and part of the sacA region. A third kind of fusion was constructed in which the palindromic structure was flanked by a heterologous promoter and a heterologous structural gene. After introduction of these fusions into the chromosomal DNA of mutants affected in sacB regulation, it was possible to reveal different targets for the regulatory genes sacU, sacQ and sacS: the sacU and sacQ genes act on a region located near or just upstream from the promoter, and the sacS gene, which is involved in the induction process, acts on the palindromic structure.     

Optimization of the expression of the HIV fusion inhibitor cyanovirin-N from the tobacco plastid genome

Plants with transgenic plastid (chloroplast) genomes represent a promising production platform in molecular farming, mainly because of the plastids' potential to accumulate foreign proteins to very high levels and the increased biosafety conferred by the maternal mode of plastid inheritance. Although some transgenes can be expressed to extraordinarily high levels, the expression of others has been unsuccessful. Lack of detectable transgene expression is usually attributable to either RNA instability or protein instability. Here, we have investigated the possibilities to improve the production of a pharmaceutical protein that is difficult to express in chloroplasts: the HIV-1 fusion inhibitor cyanovirin-N (CV-N). Testing various N-terminal and C-terminal fusions to peptide sequences from two proteins known to accumulate to high levels in transgenic plastids (GFP and the protein antibiotic PlyGBS), we show that both low mRNA stability and low protein stability contribute to the lack of detectable CV-N expression in chloroplasts. Both problems can be alleviated by N-terminal fusions to the CV-N coding region, thus highlighting a suitable strategy for optimization of plastid transgene expression.     

Transfer vectors for maximal expression of passenger genes in the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus expression system

A series of Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (Bm-NPV) transfer vectors has been developed containing various lengths of the polyhedrin promoter, including sequences 3' of the initiation codon. The ATG initiation codon was mutated in some of these vectors to allow for the production of authentic nonfusion proteins. The ability of the various polyhedrin promoter constructs to direct expression of foreign gene sequences was assessed using two test genes, chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (cat), and human metallothionein II. Accumulation of cat mRNA and nonfused protein was low when only polyhedrin promoter sequences to -8 (relative to the translational start site of polyhedrin mRNA) were included in the transfer vector, but cat expression was comparable with that of the wild-type polyhedrin gene when promoter sequences to +5 were present. Further addition of polyhedrin gene sequences to +26 or +94 resulted in no further increase in expression. Similar results were obtained for expression of human metallothionein II, where constructs encoding polyhedrin-metallothionein fusion proteins containing polyhedrin sequences to at least +5 resulted in high levels of mRNA and protein accumulation. The expression vectors containing the +5, +26, or +94 BmNPV polyhedrin promoter can thus be used to direct maximal levels of production of nonfused proteins (when the polyedrin ATG has been mutated) or of fusion proteins, depending on which is more suitable for a particular application. These new vectors are a useful addition to those presently available and should increase the utility of the BmNPV expression system for large-scale protein production. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Real-time PCR used to measure stress-induced changes in the expression of the genes of the alginate pathway of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

AIMS: To measure the concentration of mRNAs transcribed from four genes involved in alginate production using real-time PCR. METHODS AND RESULTS: The mRNA concentrations in cells grown in normal and stress conditions were compared. A difference in the expression of algD, the key gene leading to overproduction of alginate, was detected between alginate-producing and non-alginate-producing strains grown under normal conditions. After growth on 3% ethanol (known to stimulate alginate production), but not after heat-shock, an increase in algD mRNA levels and a corresponding decrease in mucB (a regulatory gene) mRNA levels were detected in all strains. CONCLUSION: The quantitative results suggest that the mucB gene may have a role in recognition of stress conditions, and that having a disrupted mucA gene does not always result in a mucoid phenotype. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Real-time PCR can be used to quantify mRNA and is a convenient method of analysing bacterial gene expression.     

Regulation by let-7 and lin-4 miRNAs results in target mRNA degradation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 22 nucleotide RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of protein-coding genes. In a present model of miRNA function in animals, miRNAs that form imperfect duplexes with their targets inhibit protein expression without affecting mRNA levels. Here, we report that in C. elegans, regulation by the let-7 miRNA results in degradation of its lin-41 target mRNA, despite the fact that its 3'UTR regulatory sequences can only partially base-pair with the miRNA. Furthermore, lin-14 and lin-28 are targets of the lin-4 miRNA, and we show that the mRNA levels for these protein-coding genes significantly decrease in response to lin-4 expression. This study reveals that mRNAs containing partial miRNA complementary sites can be targeted for degradation in vivo, raising the possibility that regulation at the level of mRNA stability may be more common than previously appreciated for the miRNA pathway.     

Hypoxia may increase rat insulin mRNA levels by promoting binding of the polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) to the pyrimidine-rich insulin mRNA 3'-untranslated region

BACKGROUND: Recent reports identify the 3'-UTR of insulin mRNA as crucial for control of insulin messenger stability. This region contains a pyrimidine-rich sequence, which is similar to the hypoxia-responsive mRNA-stabilizing element of tyrosine hydroxylase. This study aimed to determine whether hypoxia affects insulin mRNA levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rat islets were incubated at normoxic or hypoxic conditions and with or without hydrogen peroxide and a nitric oxide donor. Insulin mRNA was determined by Northern hybridization. Islet homogenates were used for electrophoretic mobility shift assay with an RNA-oligonucleotide, corresponding to the pyrimidine-rich sequence of the 3'-UTR of rat insulin I mRNA. The expression of reporter gene mRNA, in islets transfected with reporter gene constructs containing the wild-type or mutated insulin mRNA pyrimidine-rich sequences, was measured by semiquantitive RT-PCR. RESULTS: Insulin mRNA was increased in response to hypoxia. This was paralleled by increased binding of the polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) to the pyrimidine-rich sequence of the 3'-UTR of insulin mRNA, which was counteracted by hydrogen peroxide. The reporter gene mRNA level containing the wild-type binding site was not increased in response to hypoxia, but mutation of the site resulted in a destabilization of the mRNA. CONCLUSIONS: The complete understanding of different diabetic conditions requires the elucidation of mechanisms that control insulin gene expression. Our data show that hypoxia may increase insulin mRNA levels by promoting the binding of PTB to the insulin mRNA 3'-UTR. Hydrogen peroxide abolishes the hypoxic effect indicating involvement of reactive oxygen species and/or the redox potential in the oxygen-signaling pathway.     

mRNA Instability Elements in the Human Papillomavirus Type 16 L2 Coding Region

Human papillomavirus capsid proteins L1 and L2 are detected only in terminally differentiated cells, indicating that expression of the L1 and L2 genes is blocked in dividing cells. The results presented here establish that the human papillomavirus type 16 L2 coding region contains cis-acting inhibitory sequences. When placed downstream of a reporter gene, the human papillomavirus type 16 L2 sequence reduced both mRNA and protein levels in an orientation-dependent manner. Deletion analysis revealed that the L2 sequence contains two cis-acting inhibitory RNA regions. We identified an inhibitory region in the 5′-most 845 nucleotides of L2 that acted by reducing cytoplasmic mRNA stability and a second, weaker inhibitory region in the 3′ end of L2. In contrast, human papillomavirus type 1 L1 and L2 genes did not encode strong inhibitory sequences. This result is consistent with observations of high virus production in human papillomavirus type 1-infected tissue, whereas only low levels of human papillomavirus type 16 virions are detectable in infected epithelium. The presence of inhibitory sequences in the L1 and L2 mRNAs may aid the virus in avoiding the host immunosurveillance and in establishing persistent infections.     

Circular mRNA can direct translation of extremely long repeating-sequence proteins in vivo.

Many proteins with unusual structural properties are comprised of multiple repeating amino acid sequences and are often fractious to expression in recombinant systems. To facilitate recombinant production of such proteins for structural and engineering studies, we have produced circular messenger RNAs with infinite open reading frames. We show that a circular mRNA containing a simple green fluorescent protein (GFP) open reading frame can direct GFP expression in Escherichia coli. A circular mRNA with an infinite GFP open reading frame produces extremely long protein chains, proving that bacterial ribosomes can internally initiate and repeatedly transit a circular mRNA. Only the monomeric forms of GFP produced from circular mRNA are fluorescent. Analysis of the translation initiation region shows that multiple sequences contribute to maximal translation from circular mRNA. This technology provides a unique means of producing a very long repeating-sequence protein, and may open the way for development of proteinaceous materials with novel properties.