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KMID : 0381120090310030209
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Genes and Genomics
2009 Volume.31 No. 3 p.209 ~ p.215
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Alu Tandem Sequences Inhibit GFP Gene Expression by Triggering Chromatin Wrapping
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Wang Xiu-Fang
Liu Jing
Feng Jing-Jing
Mu Wen-Li
Shi Xiao-juan
Yang Qin-Qing
Duan Xiao-Cui
Xie Ying
Lu Zhang-Jun
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Abstract
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Alu elements belonging to the short interspersed nuclear elements (SINE) of repetitive elements are present in more than one million copies which altogether represent 10% of the whole human genome. In this study, the roles of Alu tandem sequences in the process of GFP gene (GFP) expression and packing into chromatin of its DNA were studied. To detect the effect of Alu repeats on gene expression, different copies of Alus were inserted GFP downstream respectively in pEGFP-C1 vector. We found that Alu sequences decreased the amount of GFP transcription, the percentage of GFP positive cells and the accessibility to DNase I in length-dependent manner. Inserting Alu caused the production of higher-molecular-mass RNA, indicating Alu sequence did not induce premature transcriptional termination. Tight packing chromatins keep silent and resist to DNase I digestion, which is a general phenomenon. We suggested that head and tail tandem Alu sequences suppressed GFP expression in length dependent manner by triggering chromatin packing.
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KEYWORD
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Alu, GFP, chromatin wrapping, premature transcriptional termination
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