Nuclear shuttling of protein molecules
is a basic biological process central to regulation of gene expression
in all eukaryotic organisms. Furthermore, transport of proteins
and protein-nucleic acid complexes in and out of the cell nucleus
is an essential step in viral and bacterial infection. It is natural,
therefore, that identification and molecular cloning of genes coding
for nuclear and nucleocytoplasmic shuttle proteins is the goal of
many laboratories as well as companies involved in the genornic
research.
Here, a line of commercial products will be developed
for simple and reliable identification of eukaryotic genes encoding
proteins with functional nuclear localization signals (NLS) and/or
nuclear export signals (NES). This major goal will be achieved in
the following three stages:
- Modification of our patented NLS and NES assay vectors to include
multiple cloning and translational termination sites and to allow
gene cloning in three open reading frames. These vectors will
be marketed/licensed for production of custom cDNA libraries as
well as for testing individual genes of interest.
- Construction of cDNA expression libraries from mammals, insects,
and plants in the NLS and NES assay vectors. These libraries will
be marketed/licensed and/or used for in-house screening.
- Screening of the constructed libraries for genes encoding proteins
with active NLS and NES sequences. The identified genes will be
captured as intellectual property.
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