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A potentially immunologically inert derivative of the reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator

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Abstract

The archetypical system for regulating heterologous gene expression in mammalian cells involves tetracycline-activated transactivators (rtTA). Binding of such transactivators to tet-operator-controlled promoters induces transcription. Immune responses directed against the transactivator proteins may limit the applicability of this system in immune-competent hosts. To circumvent such immune responses the immune evasion mechanism of the Epstein–Barr virus Nuclear-Antigen 1 was exploited. Our data show that fusion of the rtTA with the EBNA-1 derived Gly-Ala repeat yielded an efficient transactivator with no detectable activity in absence of inducer. Antigenic peptides of the fusion protein were not presented in MHC class I.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from Dutch Diabetes Foundation.

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Correspondence to Arnaud Zaldumbide.

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Zaldumbide, A., Weening, S., Cramer, S.J. et al. A potentially immunologically inert derivative of the reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator. Biotechnol Lett 32, 749–754 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0218-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0218-8

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