The long-terminal repeat (LTR)-retrotransposon Ty1 is a mobile genetic element that replicates through an RNA intermediate. Retroelement genomic transcripts contain internal structures fundamental to gene expression and propagation. In addition, long non-coding antisense RNAs overlap the 5'-terminal region of the genomic RNA and confer post-translational copy number control. Although LTR- retro...

Previous studies suggest that the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) functions in the coordinate expression of adipocyte genes during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. We sought to block expression of C/EBP selectively using a bovine papilloma virus (BPV) vector to direct transcription of a approximately 0.4-kb segment of C/EBP cDNA (in antisense orientation) containing translated se...

A surprise that has emerged from transcriptomics is the prevalence of genomic antisense transcription, which occurs counter to gene orientation. While frequent, the roles of antisense transcription in regulation are poorly understood. We built a synthetic system in Escherichia coli to study how antisense transcription can change the expression of a gene and tune the response characteristics of ...

The aim of the present study was to identify functional antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) against the rat glutathione S-transferase Mu (GSTM) isoforms, GSTM1 and GSTM2. These antisense ODNs would enable the study of the physiological consequences of GSTM deficiency. Because it has been suggested that the effectiveness of antisense ODNs is dependent on the secondary mRNA structures of their...

In chloroplasts, the control of mRNA stability is of critical importance for proper regulation of gene expression. The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain Delta26pAtE is engineered such that the atpB mRNA terminates with an mRNA destabilizing polyadenylate tract, resulting in this strain being unable to conduct photosynthesis. A collection of photosynthetic revertants was obtained from Delta26pAtE...

Transfection of a neuroblastoma cell line with expression vectors containing two different segments of human c-mybcomplementary DNA in antisense orientation yielded far fewer transfectant clones than did the transaction with the identical segments in sense orientation. In cell clones expressing c-myb antisense RNA, levels of the c-myb protein were down-regulated and the proliferation rate was s...

Pervasive transcription of eukaryotic genomes stems to a large extent from bidirectional promoters that synthesize mRNA and divergent noncoding RNA (ncRNA). Here, we show that ncRNA transcription in the yeast S. cerevisiae is globally restricted by early termination that relies on the essential RNA-binding factor Nrd1. Depletion of Nrd1 from the nucleus results in 1,526 Nrd1-unterminated transc...

Antisense inhibition of gene expression during Xenopus development was obtained by injecting, into the zygote, an expression vector carrying the adenovirus VAI gene read by RNA polymerase III. This vector yields high levels of antisense RNA in most embryonic cells between mid-blastula transition and tailbud stage. As a target we chose the Xenopus homeobox gene Xhox1A. A 26 bp long oligonucleoti...

Tricyclo (tc)-DNA belongs to the class of conformationally constrained DNA analogs that show enhanced binding properties to DNA and RNA. We prepared tc-oligonucleotides up to 17 nt in length, and evaluated their binding efficiency and selectivity towards complementary RNA, their biological stability in serum, their RNase H inducing potential and their antisense activity in a cellular assay. Rel...