PUBLICATION

Non-homologous end joining plays a key role in transgene concatemer formation in transgenic zebrafish embryos

Authors
Dai, J., Cui, X., Zhu, Z., and Hu, W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-101222-20
Date
2010
Source
International journal of biological sciences   6(7): 756-768 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Zhu, Zuoyan
Keywords
Transgene, Concatemer, DSB (double strand breaks), NHEJ (non-homologous end joining), Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Cytomegalovirus/genetics
  • DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded
  • DNA Repair/genetics
  • DNA Repair/physiology*
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism*
  • Genetic Vectors/genetics
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism
  • Plasmids/genetics
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
21152116 Full text @ Int. J. Biol. Sci.
Abstract
This study focused on concatemer formation and integration pattern of transgenes in zebrafish embryos. A reporter plasmid based on enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) driven by Cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, pCMV-pax6in-eGFP, was constructed to reflect transgene behavior in the host environment. After removal of the insertion fragment by double digestion with various combinations of restriction enzymes, linearized pCMV-pax6in-eGFP vectors were generated with different combinations of 5'-protruding, 3'-protruding, and blunt ends that were microinjected into zebrafish embryos. Repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) was monitored by GFP expression following religation of the reporter gene. One-hundred-and-ninety-seven DNA fragments were amplified from GFP-positive embryos and sequenced to analyze the repair characteristics of different DSB end combinations. DSBs involving blunt and asymmetric protruding ends were repaired efficiently by direct ligation of blunt ends, ligation after blunting and fill-in, or removed by cutting. Repair of DSBs with symmetric 3'-3' protrusions was less efficient and utilized template-directed repair. The results suggest that non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) was the principal mechanism of exogenous gene concatemer formation and integration of transgenes into the genome of transgenic zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping