The expanding universe of transposon technologies for gene and cell engineering
Open Access
- 1 January 2010
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Mobile DNA
- Vol. 1 (1), 25-15
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1759-8753-1-25
Abstract
Transposable elements can be viewed as natural DNA transfer vehicles that, similar to integrating viruses, are capable of efficient genomic insertion. The mobility of class II transposable elements (DNA transposons) can be controlled by conditionally providing the transposase component of the transposition reaction. Thus, a DNA of interest (be it a fluorescent marker, a small hairpin (sh)RNA expression cassette, a mutagenic gene trap or a therapeutic gene construct) cloned between the inverted repeat sequences of a transposon-based vector can be used for stable genomic insertion in a regulated and highly efficient manner. This methodological paradigm opened up a number of avenues for genome manipulations in vertebrates, including transgenesis for the generation of transgenic cells in tissue culture, the production of germline transgenic animals for basic and applied research, forward genetic screens for functional gene annotation in model species, and therapy of genetic disorders in humans. Sleeping Beauty (SB) was the first transposon shown to be capable of gene transfer in vertebrate cells, and recent results confirm that SB supports a full spectrum of genetic engineering including transgenesis, insertional mutagenesis, and therapeutic somatic gene transfer both ex vivo and in vivo. The first clinical application of the SB system will help to validate both the safety and efficacy of this approach. In this review, we describe the major transposon systems currently available (with special emphasis on SB), discuss the various parameters and considerations pertinent to their experimental use, and highlight the state of the art in transposon technology in diverse genetic applications.Keywords
This publication has 140 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hyperactive Sleeping Beauty Transposase Enables Persistent Phenotypic Correction in Mice and a Canine Model for Hemophilia BMolecular Therapy, 2010
- Transposon-based screens for cancer gene discovery in mouse modelsSeminars in Cancer Biology, 2010
- Systemic Correction of Storage Disease in MPS I NOD/SCID Mice Using the Sleeping Beauty Transposon SystemMolecular Therapy, 2009
- Efficient nonviral Sleeping Beauty transposon-based TCR gene transfer to peripheral blood lymphocytes confers antigen-specific antitumor reactivityGene Therapy, 2009
- Applying a “Double-Feature” Promoter to Identify Cardiomyocytes Differentiated from Human Embryonic Stem Cells Following Transposon-Based Gene DeliveryThe International Journal of Cell Cloning, 2009
- piggyBac can bypass DNA synthesis during cut and paste transpositionThe EMBO Journal, 2008
- Prolonged expression of a lysosomal enzyme in mouse liver after Sleeping Beauty transposon‐mediated gene delivery: implications for non‐viral gene therapy of mucopolysaccharidosesThe Journal of Gene Medicine, 2007
- Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Fibroblast Cultures by Defined FactorsCell, 2006
- Tol2 transposon‐mediated enhancer trap to identify developmentally regulated zebrafish genes in vivoDevelopmental Dynamics, 2004
- Effective targeted gene ‘knockdown’ in zebrafishNature Genetics, 2000