Functional assays luciferase transcription

CAT assay. An enzyme assay. CAT stands for chloramphenicol acetyl transferase, a bacterial enzyme which inactivates chloramphenicol by acety-lating it. CAT assays are often performed to test the function of a promoter. The gene coding for CAT is linked onto a promoter (transcription control region) from another gene, and the construct is transfected into cultured cells. Largely supplanted by the reporter gene luciferase. 

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