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. 1988 Nov 25;16(22):10453–10467. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.22.10453

Design, synthesis and expression of a human interleukin-2 gene incorporating the codon usage bias found in highly expressed Escherichia coli genes.

D P Williams 1, D Regier 1, D Akiyoshi 1, F Genbauffe 1, J R Murphy 1
PMCID: PMC338917  PMID: 3060845

Abstract

A synthetic gene encoding human interleukin-2 (IL-2) was designed such that the codon usage bias resembled that found in highly expressed Escherichia coli genes. The percentage of preferred codons was increased from 43% in the native cDNA sequence to 85% in the synthetic sequence. The cDNA and synthetic IL-2 genes were placed under the control of the trc promoter and expressed in E. coli JM101. While Northern blot analysis of IL-2 mRNA from each genetic construct demonstrated equivalent message half-lives, immunoblot and bioactivity analyses showed the synthetic gene to direct the synthesis of up to 16 times more IL-2 than the native cDNA sequence.

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