Methods for regulating gene expression

US6004941A · kind A · utility

Assignees

• BASF SE
• BASF Bioresearch Corporation · US
• Knoll, Inc. · DE

Inventors

• Hermann Bujard · Heidelberg, DE
• Manfred Gossen · Corona, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 7, 1995
• Grant date: Dec 21, 1999
• Expiry date: Jun 7, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12N2830/32
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Methods of regulating gene expression in subjects using tetracycline-responsive fusion proteins are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method involves introducing into a cell the subject a nucleic acid molecule encoding a fusion protein which activates transcription, the fusion protein comprising a first polypeptide which binds to a tet operator sequence in the presence of tetracycline or a tetracycline analogue operatively linked to a second polypeptide which activates transcription in eukaryotic cells; and modulating the concentration of a tetracycline, or analogue thereof, in the subject. In another embodiment, the cell further comprises a fusion protein which inhibits transcription, the fusion protein comprising a first polypeptide which binds to a tet operator sequence, operatively linked to a second polypeptide which inhibits transcription in eukaryotic cells. In yet another embodiment, the method involves obtaining a cell from a subject, introducing into the cell a first nucleic acid molecule which operatively links a gene to at least one tet operator sequence, introducing into the cell a second nucleic acid molecule encoding a fusion protein of the invention to form a modifi…