In order to examine gene function in Streptococcus mutans, we have recently initiated an antisense RNA strategy. Toward this end, we have now constructed and evaluated three Escherichia coli-S. mutans shuttle expression vectors with the fruA and scrB promoters from S. mutans, as well as the tetR-controlled tetO promoter from Staphylococcus aureus. Among these, the tetO/tetR system proved to be ...

In this study, we employ antisense RNA technology to block Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) gene expression in cell culture by gene transfer as an approach to block immune recognition and pathogenic sequelae. Retroviral vectors encoding antisense and sense copies of the HBV surface antigen gene (HBsAg) were constructed, respectively. To assay the inhibition of HBV gene expression by antisense RNA, the a...

Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are important regulators of gene expression. Recently, a link between antisense transcription and the formation of endo-siRNAs has emerged. We investigated the bi-directionally transcribed Na/phosphate cotransporter gene (Slc34a1) under the aspect of endo-siRNA processing. Mouse Slc34a1 produces an antisense transcript that represents an alternative splice p...

The Clostridium acetobutylicum glutamine synthetase (GS) DNA region is characterized by a downstream promoter, P3, oriented toward the glnA gene, which controls the transcription of an RNA complementary to the start of the glnA mRNA. Expression of the predicted 43-base antisense RNA was demonstrated in C. acetobutylicum and Escherichia coli cells containing the cloned glnA DNA. Antisense RNA tr...

Facioscapulohumeral Disease (FSHD) is a dominantly inherited progressive myopathy associated with aberrant production of the transcription factor, Double Homeobox Protein 4 (DUX4). The expression of DUX4 depends on an open chromatin conformation of the D4Z4 macrosatellite array and a specific haplotype on chromosome 4. Even when these requirements are met, DUX4 transcripts and protein are only ...

Naturally occurring antisense transcription is associated with the regulation of gene expression through a variety of biological mechanisms. Several recent genome-wide studies reported the identification of potential antisense transcripts for thousands of mammalian genes, many of them resulting from alternatively polyadenylated transcripts or heterogeneous transcription start sites. However, it...

BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and trans-acting small-interfering RNAs (tasi-RNAs) are small (20-22 nt long) RNAs (smRNAs) generated from hairpin secondary structures or antisense transcripts, respectively, that regulate gene expression by Watson-Crick pairing to a target mRNA and altering expression by mechanisms related to RNA interference. The high sequence homology of plant miRNAs to their t...

Antisense transcription has been extensively recognized as a regulatory mechanism for gene expression across all kingdoms of life. Despite the broad importance and extensive experimental determination of cis-antisense transcription, relatively little is known about its role in controlling cellular switching responses. Growing evidence suggests the presence of non-coding cis-antisense RNAs that ...

Ž . Ž . In this study, mice received a single intracerebroventricular i.c.v. injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide ODN directed towards the mRNA of G . Controls received a saline or a nonsense ODN injection. The subsequent effects on protein levels and mRNA ia 2 Žw 2 5x . of G were determined in mouse striatum, as well as, the effect on opioid D-Ala , D-Leu -enkephalin; DADLE inhibitio...

Antisense peptide technology is a valuable tool for deriving new biologically active molecules and performing peptide-receptor modulation. It is based on the fact that peptides specified by the complementary (antisense) nucleotide sequences often bind to each other with a higher specificity and efficacy. We tested the validity of this concept on the example of human erythropoietin, a well-chara...