Germline transformation

Tamura, T., Thibert, C., Royer, C. et al. 2000. Germline transformation of the silkworm Bombyx mori L. using apiggyBac transposon-derived vector. Nat. Biotechnol., 18(1) 81—84. 

Xiao, H. and Lis, J.T. (1988) Germline transformation used to define key features of heat shock response elements. Science, 239, 1139-1142. 

Catteruccia F., Nolan T., Loukeris T. G., Blass C., Savakis C., Kafatos F. C. and Crisanti A. (2000) Stable germline transformation of the malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi. Nature 405, 959-962. 

Grossman G. L., Rafferty C. S., Clayton J. R., Stevens T. K., Mukabayire O. and Benedicte M. Q. (2001) Germline transformation of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, with the piggyBac transposable element. Insect Molecular Biology 10, 597-604. 

Handler A. and Harrell R.A. 1999. Germline transformation of Drosophila melanogaster with the piggyBac transposon vector. Insect Mol Biol 8 449—458. 

Simon J.A. and Lis J.T. 1987. A germline transformation analysis reveals flexibility in the organization of heat shock consensus elements. Nucleic Acids Res. 15 2971—2988. 

DNA from any source can be utilized for pharmacogenetics research, including germline and tumor sources. Immortalized cell lines can provide an almost infinite DNA resource, and genotyping of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed immortalized lymphoblastoid cells has demonstrated similar allele frequencies to equivalent... 

Gauchat, J.F., Aversa, G., Gascan, H. and De-Vries, J.E. (1992a). Modulation of IL-4 induced germline epsilon RNA synthesis in human B cells by tumor necrosis factor-alpha, anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies or transforming growth factor-beta correlates with levels of IgE production. Int. Immunol. 4, 397-406. 

Telomerase is normally active during embryogenesis, but is repressed in most somatic cells before or shortly after birth. Germline cells, activated lymphocytes, and other immortal cells show no shortening of telomere length and possess telomerase activity. Thus tumor cells should also show telomerase activity that can act as a specific marker of transformation. 

The first hint of a link between Wnt signaling and cancer was observed when ectopic expression of Wnt-1 was found to promote the formation of mouse mammary tumors (Nusse and Varmus, 1982). However, subsequent research has not been able to establish a direct link between Wnt signaling and human breast cancer. During recent years, much attention has focused on the molecular events contributing to the transformation of colon epithelial cells following loss of function of the tumor suppressor protein APC. The vast majority of germline and somatic mutations in APC result in the for-... 

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