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Background: For the biotech industry, many therapeutic proteins, such as erythropoietin (EPO) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), have to be produced in mammalian cells despite relatively low yields and high cost to achieve the posttranslational processing that is necessary for biological activity. In order to increase yields of recombinant protein production in mammalian cells, current strategy mainly focuses on optimization and/or modification of the upstream promoter sequence elements.
Technology: Instead of modifying upstream promoter and enhancer elements, UCSD researchers have developed an innovative technology based on new insights on elements of a eukaryotic core promoter to achieve significantly higher expression of recombinant protein in mammalian cells. The inventors have designed, constructed, and optimized an extremely strong synthetic core promoter. They have demonstrated that an optimized synthetic core promoter can be at least four to five times stronger than currently widely used and known strongest promoters such as the adenovirus major late core promoter and the cytomegalovirus immediate early core promoter. This technology could greatly enhance the expression of a wide variety of recombinant proteins in mammalian cells, in vitro and in vivo.
Advantages:
- Use of an optimized core promoter to enhance gene expression
- The engineered core promoter is significantly stronger than core promoters that had been known to be the strongest ones
- Increase gene expression in in vitro or in vivo transfections
Publication: Lim CY, Santoso B, Boulay T, Dong E, Ohler U, Kadonaga JT. The MTE, a new core promoter element for transcription by RNA polymerase II. Genes Dev. 2004 Jul 1;18(13):1606-17
Patent Status: patent pending
Case No: SD2005-186
Keywords: Promoter, expression, mammalian cell, transcription, therapeutic
Inquiries To: invent@ucsd.edu
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