Schouten G J, van Luenen H G, Verra N C, Valerio D, Plasterk R H
The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Division of Molecular Biology, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Nucleic Acids Res. 1998 Jun 15;26(12):3013-7. doi: 10.1093/nar/26.12.3013.
The transposon Tc1 of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a member of the widespread family of Tc1/mariner transposons. The distribution pattern of virtually identical transposons among insect species that diverged 200 million years ago suggested horizontal transfer of the elements between species. Thishypothesis gained experimental support when it was shown that Tc1 and later also mariner transposons could be made to jump in vitro , with their transposase as the only protein required. Later it was shown that mariner transposons from one fruit fly species can jump in other fruit fly species and in a protozoan and, recently, that a Tc1-like transposon from the nematode jumps in fish cells and that a fish Tc1-like transposon jumps in human cells. Here we show that the Tc1 element from the nematode jumps in human cells. This provides further support for the horizontal spread hypothesis. Furthermore, it suggests that Tc1 can be used as vehicle for DNA integration in human gene therapy.
线虫秀丽隐杆线虫的转座子Tc1是广泛存在的Tc1/水手转座子家族的成员。在两亿年前分化的昆虫物种中，几乎相同的转座子的分布模式表明这些元件在物种间进行了水平转移。当发现Tc1以及后来的水手转座子能够在体外跳跃，且仅需转座酶这一种蛋白质时，这一假说得到了实验支持。后来发现，来自一种果蝇物种的水手转座子能够在其他果蝇物种以及一种原生动物中跳跃，最近还发现，来自线虫的一种类似Tc1的转座子能在鱼类细胞中跳跃，而一种鱼类类似Tc1的转座子能在人类细胞中跳跃。在此我们表明，来自线虫的Tc1元件能在人类细胞中跳跃。这为水平传播假说提供了进一步支持。此外，这表明Tc1可作为人类基因治疗中DNA整合的载体。
