Macrolide-based transgene control in mammalian cells and mice

Heterologous mammalian gene regulation systems for adjustable expression of multiple transgenes are necessary for advanced human gene therapy and tissue engineering, and for sophisticated in vivo gene-function analyses, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The antibiotic-dependent interaction between the repressor (E) and operator (ETR) derived from an Escherichia coli erythromycin-resistance regulon was used to design repressible (E-OFF) and inducible (E-ON) mammalian gene regulation systems (E.REX) responsive to clinically licensed macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, clarithromycin, and roxithromycin). The E-OFF system consists of a chimeric erythromycin-dependent transactivator (ET), constructed by fusing the prokaryotic repressor E to a eukaryotic transactivation domain that binds and activates transcription from ETR-containing synthetic eukaryotic promoters (P-ETR). Addition of macrolide antibiotic results in repression of transgene expression. The E-ON system is based on E binding to artificial ETR-derived operators cloned adjacent to constitutive promoters, resulting in repression of transgene expression. In the presence of macrolides, gene expression is induced. Control of transgene expression in primary cells, cell lines, and microencapsulated human cells transplanted into mice was demonstrated using the E.REX (E-OFF and E-ON) systems. The macrolide-responsive E.REX technology was functionally compatible with the streptogramin (PIP)-regulated and tetracycline (TET)-regulated expression systems, and therefore may be combined for multiregulated multigene therapeutic interventions in mammalian cells and tissues.