Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Sep;37(1):25-9.
doi: 10.1002/gene.10227.

Alpha complementation in the Cre recombinase enzyme

Emilio Casanova  1 , Thomas Lemberger, Sandra Fehsenfeld, Theo Mantamadiotis, Günther Schütz
Affiliations

Alpha complementation in the Cre recombinase enzyme

Emilio Casanova et al. Genesis. 2003 Sep.

Abstract

The Cre-loxP system is increasingly exploited for spatial and temporal gene inactivation. Here we present a novel approach to achieve this goal of selective gene inactivation. Following the model of alpha complementation in the beta-galactosidase enzyme, where the enzyme is split into independent polypeptides which are able to associate and maintain the enzymatic activity, we divided the Cre recombinase into two independent polypeptides (one containing the NH(2) terminus (alpha) and a second one containing the COOH-terminus (beta)). Individually, the two polypeptides have no detectable activity. However, when coexpressed the polypeptides are able to associate, giving rise to Cre enzymatic activity, which optimally is as high as 30% of that seen with wildtype Cre recombinase in vitro. We present this strategy as a modification of the traditional Cre-loxP system, which could be used to obtain a highly specific recombination pattern by expressing the two halves under the control of separate promoters.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources