Artificial Chromosomes

David Schlessinger, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Ramaiah Nagaraja, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Published online: January 2006

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0005806

Yeast, bacterial and mammalian artificial chromosomes can clone and transfer genes or other genomic DNA segments into cells in the form of additional supernumerary chromosomes. They provide a route to the analysis of chromosome dynamics, long- and short-range regulation of genes and possibly to gene therapy.

Keywords: yeast artificial chromosomes; mammalian artificial chromosomes; chromosome; centromere; gene therapy

Figure 1. Yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) and mammalian artificial chromosomes (MACs). The structure of a typical YAC compared with one of the current formulations of a MAC. (a) The YAC includes sequences for a centromere (CEN4), an origin of replication (ARS) and telomeres (TEL) at its ends. The two vector ‘arms’ also contain selectable markers for tryptophan (TRP1) and uracil (URA3) utilization in the original and still frequently used pYAC4 (Burke et al., 1987); a genomic DNA insert of up to 1 Mb is sealed in place by ligase during the cloning step, and the YAC is then transformed into host yeast cells. (b) Current MACs contain human TEL sequences, arrays of alphoid sequences or centromeric DNA as a CEN equivalent and selectable markers (A and B), as well as a genomic DNA insert like that of YACs. Functional origins of replication are usually left out of the vector, because they occur spontaneously every few hundred kilobases in human or mouse DNA.
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Related Sub-Topics:

Model Organisms and Human Disease | Techniques and Tools in Clinical Genetics | Gene Therapy | Chromosomes and Chromatin Modifications | Techniques and Tools in Molecular Biology | Nonchromosomal DNA
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Article Title: Artificial Chromosomes
 
How to Cite close
Schlessinger, David, and Nagaraja, Ramaiah(Jan 2006) Artificial Chromosomes. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0005806]