Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published October 1988 | Published
Journal Article Open

A regulatory domain that directs lineage-specific expression of a skeletal matrix protein gene in the sea urchin embryo

Abstract

DNA sequences derived from the 5' region of a gene coding for the 50-kD skeletal matrix protein (SM50) of sea urchin embryo spicules were linked to the CAT reporter gene and injected into unfertilized eggs. CAT mRNA and enzyme were synthesized from these fusion constructs in embryos derived from these eggs, and in situ hybridization with a CAT antisense RNA probe demonstrated that expression is confined to skeletogenic mesenchyme cells. A mean of 5.5 of the 32-blastula-stage skeletogenic mesenchyme cells displayed CAT mRNA (range 1-15), a result consistent with earlier measurements indicating that incorporation of the exogenous injected DNA probably occurs in a single blastomere during early cleavage. In vitro mutagenesis and deletion experiments showed that CAT enzyme activity in the transgenic embryos is enhanced 34-fold by decreasing the number of SM50 amino acids at the amino-terminus of the fusion protein from 43 to 4. cis-regulatory sequences that are sufficient to promote lineage-specific spatial expression in the embryo are located between -440 and +120 with respect to the transcriptional initiation site.

Additional Information

© 1988 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. The Authors acknowledge that six months after the full-issue publication date, the Article will be distributed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC License (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Received July 7, 1988; revised version accepted August 18, 1988. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant HD-05753. H.M.S. was supported by NIH Training Grant GM-07616.

Attached Files

Published - 1238_1.pdf

Files

1238_1.pdf
Files (5.6 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:a01471733e98742607e49dcfee9affc9
5.6 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023