Skip to main content
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1983 Feb;3(2):280–289. doi: 10.1128/mcb.3.2.280

A cDNA cloning vector that permits expression of cDNA inserts in mammalian cells.

H Okayama, P Berg
PMCID: PMC368532  PMID: 6300662

Abstract

This paper describes a plasmid vector for cloning cDNAs in Escherichia coli; the same vector also promotes expression of the cDNA segment in mammalian cells. Simian virus 40 (SV40)-derived DNA segments are arrayed in the pcD vector to permit transcription, splicing, and polyadenylation of the cloned cDNA segment. A DNA fragment containing both the SV40 early region promoter and two introns normally used to splice the virus 16S and 19S late mRNAs is placed upstream of the cDNA cloning site to ensure transcription and splicing of the cDNA transcripts. An SV40 late region polyadenylation sequence occurs downstream of the cDNA cloning site, so that the cDNA transcript acquires a polyadenylated 3' end. By using pcD-alpha-globin cDNA as a model, we confirmed that the alpha-globin transcript produced in transfected cells is initiated correctly, spliced at either of the two introns, and polyadenylated either at the site coded in the cDNA segment or at the distal SV40 polyadenylation signal. A cDNA clone library constructed with mRNA from SV40-transformed human fibroblasts and this vector (about 1.4 X 10(6) clones) yielded full-length cDNA clones that express hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (Jolly et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., in press).

Full text

PDF
282

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alton N. K., Vapnek D. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the chloramphenicol resistance transposon Tn9. Nature. 1979 Dec 20;282(5741):864–869. doi: 10.1038/282864a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aviv H., Leder P. Purification of biologically active globin messenger RNA by chromatography on oligothymidylic acid-cellulose. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Jun;69(6):1408–1412. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.6.1408. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berk A. J., Sharp P. A. Spliced early mRNAs of simian virus 40. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Mar;75(3):1274–1278. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.3.1274. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brack C., Hirama M., Lenhard-Schuller R., Tonegawa S. A complete immunoglobulin gene is created by somatic recombination. Cell. 1978 Sep;15(1):1–14. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90078-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Breathnach R., Mandel J. L., Chambon P. Ovalbumin gene is split in chicken DNA. Nature. 1977 Nov 24;270(5635):314–319. doi: 10.1038/270314a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Catterall J. F., Stein J. P., Lai E. C., Woo S. L., Dugaiczyk A., Mace M. L., Means A. R., O'Malley B. W. The chick ovomucoid gene contains at least six intervening sequences. Nature. 1979 Mar 22;278(5702):323–327. doi: 10.1038/278323a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chang A. C., Nunberg J. H., Kaufman R. J., Erlich H. A., Schimke R. T., Cohen S. N. Phenotypic expression in E. coli of a DNA sequence coding for mouse dihydrofolate reductase. Nature. 1978 Oct 19;275(5681):617–624. doi: 10.1038/275617a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chirgwin J. M., Przybyla A. E., MacDonald R. J., Rutter W. J. Isolation of biologically active ribonucleic acid from sources enriched in ribonuclease. Biochemistry. 1979 Nov 27;18(24):5294–5299. doi: 10.1021/bi00591a005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cordell B., Bell G., Tischer E., DeNoto F. M., Ullrich A., Pictet R., Rutter W. J., Goodman H. M. Isolation and characterization of a cloned rat insulin gene. Cell. 1979 Oct;18(2):533–543. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90070-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Efstratiadis A., Kafatos F. C., Maniatis T. The primary structure of rabbit beta-globin mRNA as determined from cloned DNA. Cell. 1977 Apr;10(4):571–585. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90090-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Efstratiadis A., Kafatos F. C., Maxam A. M., Maniatis T. Enzymatic in vitro synthesis of globin genes. Cell. 1976 Feb;7(2):279–288. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(76)90027-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fiers W., Contreras R., Haegemann G., Rogiers R., Van de Voorde A., Van Heuverswyn H., Van Herreweghe J., Volckaert G., Ysebaert M. Complete nucleotide sequence of SV40 DNA. Nature. 1978 May 11;273(5658):113–120. doi: 10.1038/273113a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Fromm M., Berg P. Deletion mapping of DNA regions required for SV40 early region promoter function in vivo. J Mol Appl Genet. 1982;1(5):457–481. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ghosh P. K., Reddy V. B., Swinscoe J., Lebowitz P., Weissman S. M. Heterogeneity and 5'-terminal structures of the late RNAs of simian virus 40. J Mol Biol. 1978 Dec 25;126(4):813–846. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90022-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gluzman Y. SV40-transformed simian cells support the replication of early SV40 mutants. Cell. 1981 Jan;23(1):175–182. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90282-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Graham F. L., van der Eb A. J. A new technique for the assay of infectivity of human adenovirus 5 DNA. Virology. 1973 Apr;52(2):456–467. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(73)90341-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gurdon J. B., Lane C. D., Woodland H. R., Marbaix G. Use of frog eggs and oocytes for the study of messenger RNA and its translation in living cells. Nature. 1971 Sep 17;233(5316):177–182. doi: 10.1038/233177a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Handa H., Kaufman R. J., Manley J., Gefter M., Sharp P. A. Transcription of Simian virus 40 DNA in a HeLa whole cell extract. J Biol Chem. 1981 Jan 10;256(1):478–482. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Harpold M. M., Dobner P. R., Evans R. M., Bancroft F. C. Construction and identification by positive hybridization-translation of a bacterial plasmid containing a rat growth hormone structural gene sequence. Nucleic Acids Res. 1978 Jun;5(6):2039–2053. doi: 10.1093/nar/5.6.2039. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Heindell H. C., Liu A., Paddock G. V., Studnicka G. M., Salser W. A. The primary sequence of rabbit alpha-globin mRNA. Cell. 1978 Sep;15(1):43–54. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90081-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Jeffreys A. J., Flavell R. A. The rabbit beta-globin gene contains a large large insert in the coding sequence. Cell. 1977 Dec;12(4):1097–1108. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90172-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Jolly D. J., Esty A. C., Bernard H. U., Friedmann T. Isolation of a genomic clone partially encoding human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Aug;79(16):5038–5041. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.16.5038. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Jorgensen R. A., Rothstein S. J., Reznikoff W. S. A restriction enzyme cleavage map of Tn5 and location of a region encoding neomycin resistance. Mol Gen Genet. 1979;177(1):65–72. doi: 10.1007/BF00267254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Katz L., Kingsbury D. T., Helinski D. R. Stimulation by cyclic adenosine monophosphate of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid replication and catabolite repression of the plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid-protein relaxation complex. J Bacteriol. 1973 May;114(2):577–591. doi: 10.1128/jb.114.2.577-591.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Lai C. J., Dhar R., Khoury G. Mapping the spliced and unspliced late lytic SV40 RNAs. Cell. 1978 Aug;14(4):971–982. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90351-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Land H., Grez M., Hauser H., Lindenmaier W., Schütz G. 5'-Terminal sequences of eucaryotic mRNA can be cloned with high efficiency. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 May 25;9(10):2251–2266. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.10.2251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Lee F., Bertrand K., Bennett G., Yanofsky C. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the initial transcribed regions of the tryptophan operons of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1978 May 15;121(2):193–217. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(78)80005-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Lee F., Mulligan R., Berg P., Ringold G. Glucocorticoids regulate expression of dihydrofolate reductase cDNA in mouse mammary tumour virus chimaeric plasmids. Nature. 1981 Nov 19;294(5838):228–232. doi: 10.1038/294228a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Mulligan R. C., Berg P. Expression of a bacterial gene in mammalian cells. Science. 1980 Sep 19;209(4463):1422–1427. doi: 10.1126/science.6251549. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Mulligan R. C., Berg P. Selection for animal cells that express the Escherichia coli gene coding for xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Apr;78(4):2072–2076. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.4.2072. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Mulligan R. C., Howard B. H., Berg P. Synthesis of rabbit beta-globin in cultured monkey kidney cells following infection with a SV40 beta-globin recombinant genome. Nature. 1979 Jan 11;277(5692):108–114. doi: 10.1038/277108a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Okayama H., Berg P. High-efficiency cloning of full-length cDNA. Mol Cell Biol. 1982 Feb;2(2):161–170. doi: 10.1128/mcb.2.2.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Parnes J. R., Velan B., Felsenfeld A., Ramanathan L., Ferrini U., Appella E., Seidman J. G. Mouse beta 2-microglobulin cDNA clones: a screening procedure for cDNA clones corresponding to rare mRNAs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Apr;78(4):2253–2257. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.4.2253. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Paterson B. M., Roberts B. E., Kuff E. L. Structural gene identification and mapping by DNA-mRNA hybrid-arrested cell-free translation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct;74(10):4370–4374. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4370. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Rougeon F., Kourilsky P., Mach B. Insertion of a rabbit beta-globin gene sequence into an E. coli plasmid. Nucleic Acids Res. 1975 Dec;2(12):2365–2378. doi: 10.1093/nar/2.12.2365. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Schaffner W. Direct transfer of cloned genes from bacteria to mammalian cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Apr;77(4):2163–2167. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.4.2163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Scherer G., Telford J., Baldari C., Pirrotta V. Isolation of cloned genes differentially expressed at early and late stages of Drosophila embryonic development. Dev Biol. 1981 Sep;86(2):438–447. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(81)90202-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Seeburg P. H., Shine J., Martial J. A., Baxter J. D., Goodman H. M. Nucleotide sequence and amplification in bacteria of structural gene for rat growth hormone. Nature. 1977 Dec 8;270(5637):486–494. doi: 10.1038/270486a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Shine J., Seeburg P. H., Martial J. A., Baxter J. D., Goodman H. M. Construction and analysis of recombinant DNA for human chorionic somatomammotropin. Nature. 1977 Dec 8;270(5637):494–499. doi: 10.1038/270494a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Subramani S., Mulligan R., Berg P. Expression of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase complementary deoxyribonucleic acid in simian virus 40 vectors. Mol Cell Biol. 1981 Sep;1(9):854–864. doi: 10.1128/mcb.1.9.854. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Thummel C., Tjian R., Grodzicker T. Expression of SV40 T antigen under control of adenovirus promoters. Cell. 1981 Mar;23(3):825–836. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90447-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Tilghman S. M., Curtis P. J., Tiemeier D. C., Leder P., Weissmann C. The intervening sequence of a mouse beta-globin gene is transcribed within the 15S beta-globin mRNA precursor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Mar;75(3):1309–1313. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.3.1309. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Verma I. M. The reverse transcriptase. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1977 Mar 21;473(1):1–38. doi: 10.1016/0304-419x(77)90005-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Villa-Komaroff L., Efstratiadis A., Broome S., Lomedico P., Tizard R., Naber S. P., Chick W. L., Gilbert W. A bacterial clone synthesizing proinsulin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Aug;75(8):3727–3731. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.8.3727. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Vogelstein B., Gillespie D. Preparative and analytical purification of DNA from agarose. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Feb;76(2):615–619. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.2.615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Weaver R. F., Weissmann C. Mapping of RNA by a modification of the Berk-Sharp procedure: the 5' termini of 15 S beta-globin mRNA precursor and mature 10 s beta-globin mRNA have identical map coordinates. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 10;7(5):1175–1193. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.5.1175. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES