Transposons are widely used for genetic
engineering in various model organisms. Recently, piggyBac
(PB) has been developed as a transposable and efficient
gene transfer tool in mammalian cells. In the present study,
we developed three types of PB transposon systems
containing a dual plasmid system (DPS), a single plasmid
system (SPS), and a DNA-mRNA combined system (DRPS)
and characterized their basic properties in HEK293 cells.
The basic elements of the donor plasmid included a
selectable-reporter gene expression cassette, two loxP sites
in the same orientation, a multiple cloning site, and two
chicken β-globin insulator core elements. We further identified
the function of the selectable-reporter and examined... More
Transposons are widely used for genetic
engineering in various model organisms. Recently, piggyBac
(PB) has been developed as a transposable and efficient
gene transfer tool in mammalian cells. In the present study,
we developed three types of PB transposon systems
containing a dual plasmid system (DPS), a single plasmid
system (SPS), and a DNA-mRNA combined system (DRPS)
and characterized their basic properties in HEK293 cells.
The basic elements of the donor plasmid included a
selectable-reporter gene expression cassette, two loxP sites
in the same orientation, a multiple cloning site, and two
chicken β-globin insulator core elements. We further identified
the function of the selectable-reporter and examined PB
integration sites in the human genome. Moreover, we
compared the transposition efficacy and found that SPS
transposed more efficiently, as compared to DPS; integration
into the host genome was determined by measuring PBase
activity. Results discovered the loss of PBase activity in the
DRPS, indicating that this system is much more biologically
safe, as compared to DPS and SPS. Finally, we employed
the DRPS to successfully perform a gene delivery into
bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs). Taken together,
the information from this study will improve the flexibility
of PB transposon systems and reduce the genotoxicity of
PBase in genetic engineering.