Targeted insertion of exogenous DNA into the eukaryotic genome by the Cre recombinase

New Biol. 1990 May;2(5):441-9.

Abstract

Cre is a 38-kD protein from bacteriophage P1 that catalyzes site-specific recombination between 34-bp loxP sequences. Our previous work has shown that Cre can perform site-specific excisive recombination not only in prokaryotes, but also in eukaryotes such as yeast and cultured mammalian cells. In this work we show that intermolecular Cre-mediated recombination can specifically direct the integration of a loxP-containing circular DNA into a chromosomal loxP site, both in yeast and in mammalian cells. The resulting integrants are predominantly simple single-copy insertions. Cre-mediated recombination thus provides a simple way to direct single-copy site-specific integration of exogenous DNA into the eukaryotic genome.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteriophages / enzymology
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Line
  • Chromosomes / ultrastructure
  • DNA / metabolism*
  • DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / genetics*
  • Eukaryotic Cells / metabolism
  • Integrases*
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plasmids
  • Recombination, Genetic*
  • Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Thymidine Kinase / biosynthesis
  • Thymidine Kinase / genetics
  • Transformation, Genetic
  • Viral Proteins*

Substances

  • Viral Proteins
  • DNA
  • Thymidine Kinase
  • Cre recombinase
  • DNA Nucleotidyltransferases
  • Integrases