During the cloning of a transcript of one member of a closely related gene family, the human 7-crystallin gene family (1), we encountered a novel artifact of the polymerase chain reaction: the formation of chimeric cDNA molecules. Our experimental strategy in cloning the human 7E-crystallin transcript was a common one (2): first strand cDNA synthesis on human lens RNA using AMV reverse transcri...

Chimeric oligonucleotides are synthetic molecules comprised of RNA and DNA bases assembled in a double hairpin conformation. These molecules have been shown to direct gene conversion events in mammalian cells and animals through a process involving at least one protein from the DNA mismatch repair pathway. The mechanism of action for gene repair in mammalian cells has been partially elucidated ...

The t(16;21)(q24;q22) translocation is a rare but recurrent chromosomal abnormality associated with therapy-related myeloid malignancies and a variant of the t(8;21) translocation in which the AML1 gene on chromosome 21 is rearranged. Here we report the molecular definition of this chromosomal aberration in four patients. We cloned cDNAs from the leukemic cells of a patient carrying t(16;21) by...

We have cloned a novel TEL/protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-type R (PTPRR) chimeric gene generated by inv(12)(p13q13). PTPRR is the first protein tyrosine phosphatase identified as a fusion partner of TEL. The chimeric gene fused exon 4 of the TEL gene with exon 7 of the PTPRR gene, and produced 10 isoforms through alternative splicing. Two isoforms that were expressed at the highest level...

Transgenic tobacco expression was analysed of chimeric genes with point mutations in the heat shock element (HSE) arrays of a small heat shock protein (sHSP) gene from sunflower: Ha hsp17.7 G4. The promoter was developmentally regulated during zygotic embryogenesis and responded to heat stress in vegetative tissues. Mutations in the HSE affected nucleotides crucial for human heat shock transcri...

OBJECTIVE Recent studies have demonstrated that genetic polymorphisms near the IL28B gene are associated with the clinical outcome of pegylated interferon α (peg-IFN-α) plus ribavirin therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, it is unclear whether genetic variations near the IL28B gene influence hepatic interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) induction or cellular immun...

A human-mouse chimeric antibody constructed in the present study was specific for a human tumor-associated antigen, common acute lymphocytic leukemia antigen. The antibody consisted of human heavy and light chain constant domains (gamma 1 and kappa type) and mouse heavy and light chain variable domains, which were derived from human plasma cell leukemia line (ARH77) and mouse hybridoma cells (N...

The secondary cell wall constitutes a rigid frame of cells in plant tissues where rigidity is required. Deposition of the secondary cell wall in fiber cells contributes to the production of wood in woody plants. The secondary cell wall is assembled through co-operative activities of many enzymes, and their gene expression is precisely regulated by a pyramidal cascade of transcription factors. D...

Osmotin-like proteins are encoded by at least six members of a multigene family in Solanum commersonii. A genomic clone (lambda pGEM2a-7) that contains two osmotin-like protein genes (OSML13 and OSML81) arranged in the same transcriptional orientation has been isolated. Restriction mapping and sequence analysis indicated that the two intronless genes correspond to the previously characterized p...

A new group of viruses carrying naturally chimeric single-stranded (ss) DNA genomes that encompass genes derived from eukaryotic ssRNA and ssDNA viruses has been recently identified by metagenomic studies. The host range, genomic diversity, and abundance of these chimeric viruses, referred to as cruciviruses, remain largely unknown. In this article, we assembled and analyzed thirty-seven new cr...