Use of mutated FLP recognition target (FRT) sites for the exchange of expression cassettes at defined chromosomal loci.

Using the FLP/FRT system for site-specific recombination and the wild-type recognition site (FRT) in conjunction with certain mutant FRT sites, it becomes possible to provoke, with high yield, a double-reciprocal crossover event in cultured mammalian cells. It is demonstrated that this technology enables a targeting of expression cassettes to appropriate chromosomal reference sites in the recipient cell to improve the concepts of reverse genetics. The design of mutant FRT sites promoting such a process will be delineated. Our results show that the five spacer mutations tested are functional as the wild type but differ in the extent of their cross-recombination, which has to be minimized for their simultaneous usage.