DNA SEQUENCE WHICH ACTS AS A CHROMATIN INSULATOR ELEMENT TO PROTECT EXPRESSED GENES FROM CIS-ACTING REGULATORY SEQUENCES IN MAMMALIAN CELLS

摘要

A vector construct containing a newly-characterized insulator element isolated from the DNA of a higher eukaryotic organism is described. The insulator element of the invention comprises a DNA sequence which contains a constitutive hypervariable site whose functional activity and biochemical characterization were previously unknown. The insulator element has been demonstrated for the first time in mammalian cells to function to buffer or insulate an expressed gene from the activity of cis-acting regulatory elements, such as enhancers, in the surrounding DNA.