Creating a Protein-Based Element of Inheritance
Liming Li,
Susan Lindquist
*
Proteins capable of self-perpetuating changes in conformation and
function (known as prions) can serve as genetic elements. To test
whether novel prions could be created by recombinant methods, a yeast
prion determinant was fused to the rat glucocorticoid receptor. The
fusion protein existed in different heritable functional states,
switched between states at a low spontaneous rate, and could be induced
to switch by experimental manipulations. The complete change in
phenotype achieved by transferring a prion determinant from one protein
to another confirms the protein-only nature of prion inheritance and
establishes a mechanism for engineering heritable changes in phenotype
that should be broadly applicable.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Genetics
and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue
MC1028, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
S-Lindquist{at}uchicago.edu
