Exogenous application of RNA molecules is a potent method to trigger interference (RNAi) in plants transgene-free manner. So far, all exogenous RNAi (exo-RNAi) applications have aimed mRNA degradation given target. However, the issue concomitant epigenetic changes was never addressed. Here, we report for first time that high-pressure spraying dsRNAs can de novo methylation promoter sequences pl...

Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lines were engineered to ectopically over-express AtMYB90 (PAP2), an R2-R3 Myb gene associated with regulation of anthocyanin production in Arabidopsis thaliana. Independently transformed transgenic lines, Myb27 and Myb237, accumulated large quantities of anthocyanin, generating a dark purple phenotype in nearly all tissues. After self-fertilization, some ...

BACKGROUND Hypomorphic mutations in the bone morphogenic protein receptor (BMPR2) confer a much greater risk for developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, not all carriers of a mutation in the BMPR2 gene suffer from PAH. We have previously shown that prolonged T helper 2 (Th2) responses in the lungs to a mild antigen delivered via the airways induce severe pulmonary arterial re...

We report here a lentiviral vector system for regulated transgene expression. We used the tetracycline repressor fused with a transcriptional suppression domain (tTS) to specifically suppress transgene expression. Human cells were first transduced with a tTS-expressing vector and subsequently transduced with a second lentiviral vector-containing transgene controlled by a regular promoter adjace...

Recent advances in plant genetic engineering offer substantial benefits to farmers throughout the world. Genetic research has identified many exogenous genes that could considerably decrease production costs through transgene-mediated resistance to insect, viral, fungal and bacterial pathogens. Potato can be produced from true potato seed (TPS) through a sexual polyploidization step, known as 4...

The utility of promoter fragments isolated from the 5'-flanking region of endogenous mammalian genes to drive transgene expression in vivo is often limited by low expression levels. In this study, a bigenic system was established that allows constitutive overexpression of transgenes in a tissue-specific fashion in transgenic mice in a time- and cost-effective fashion. A modified floxed expressi...

We have evaluated the capacity of the cell-binding heptapeptide SIGYPLP to enhance transgene expression using non-viral and viral gene delivery vectors. Targeted polyplex based vectors showed good levels of DNA uptake in freshly isolated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) compared to untargeted controls, whilst displaying only modest increases in reporter gene activity. The targete...

The repertoire of cis-regulatory elements has increased to a level of sophistication that offers considerable spatial and temporal control over transgene expression. Recent advances made with transgenes have revealed that the control of their expression is also influenced by factors that range from transgene copy number and arrangement to nuclear architecture and chromosomal location. These fac...