Article Abstract

Online ISSN: 1521-1878    Print ISSN: 0265-9247 BioEssays Volume 21, Issue 1, 1999. Pages: 76-83 Published Online: 5 Apr 1999 Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

^*Correspondence to Dirk Schindelhauer, Department of Medical Genetics, Kinderpoliklinik, Ludwig Maximilians-Universitaet, Goethestrasse 29, D-80336. Muenchen, Germany.

Funded by:
 Medical Research Council (MRC)
 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Abstract

Two reports have shown that mammalian artificial chromosomes (MAC) can be constructed from cloned human centromere DNA and telomere repeats, proving the principle that chromosomes can form from naked DNA molecules transfected into human cells. The MACs were mitotically stable, low copy number and bound antibodies associated with active centromeres. As a step toward second-generation MACs, yeast and bacterial cloning systems will have to be adapted to achieve large MAC constructs having a centromere, two telomeres, and genomic copies of mammalian genes. Available construction techniques are discussed along with a new P1 artificial chromosome (PAC)-derived telomere vector (pTAT) that can be joined to other PACs in vitro, avoiding a cloning step during which large repetitive arrays often rearrange. The PAC system can be used as a route to further define the optimal DNA elements required for efficient MAC formation, to investigate the expression of genes on MACs, and possibly to develop efficient MAC-delivery protocols. BioEssays 1999;21:76-83. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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