Illegitimate Transcription: Transcription of Any Gene in Any Cell Type

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 86; no. 8; pp. 2617 - 2621
• Main Authors: Chelly, Jamel, Concordet, Jean-Paul, Kaplan, Jean-Claude, Kahn, Axel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.04.1989; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: 550201 - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques; ANIMAL CELLS; ANIMALS; Anti-Mullerian Hormone; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; Biological and medical sciences; BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; BLOOD; BLOOD CELLS; BODY; BODY FLUIDS; BRAIN; Cell lines; CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM; Complementary DNA; CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS; Cultured cells; DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; DIGESTIVE SYSTEM; DNA; DNA POLYMERASES; DNA SEQUENCING; ENZYMES; Exons; Factor VIII - genetics; FIBROBLASTS; Fibroblasts - physiology; Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GENE AMPLIFICATION; Gene Expression Regulation; GENE REGULATION; GENES; GLANDS; GLOBIN; Globins - genetics; Glycoproteins; Growth Inhibitors; Hep G2 cells; Humans; ISOTOPES; LEUKOCYTES; LIGHT NUCLEI; LIVER; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental - genetics; LUNGS; LYMPHOCYTES; Lymphocytes - physiology; MAMMALS; MAN; MATERIALS; Messenger RNA; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; NERVOUS SYSTEM; NUCLEI; NUCLEIC ACIDS; NUCLEOTIDYLTRANSFERASES; ODD-ODD NUCLEI; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANS; PHOSPHORUS 32; PHOSPHORUS ISOTOPES; PHOSPHORUS-GROUP TRANSFERASES; POLYMERASES; PRIMATES; Pyruvate Kinase - genetics; RADIOISOTOPES; RATS; RECOMBINANT DNA; RESPIRATORY SYSTEM; RNA; RNA Splicing; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RODENTS; SOMATIC CELLS; STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; Testicular Hormones - genetics; TRANSCRIPTION; Transcription, Genetic; Transcription. Transcription factor. Splicing. Rna processing; TRANSFERASES; TUMOR CELLS; VERTEBRATES; Human; Molecular hybridization; Splicing; Radiolabelling; Rat; Nucleotide sequence; Transcription; Liver; Rodentia; Tissue specificity; Gene expression; Characterization; Vertebrata; Gene amplification; Mammalia; Messenger RNA; Complementary DNA; Isolation; Oligonucleotide; Southern blotting; Fibroblast; Lymphocyte
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.86.8.2617

Using in vitro amplification of cDNA by the polymerase chain reaction, we have detected spliced transcripts of various tissue-specific genes (genes for anti-Mullerian hormone, β -globin, aldolase A, and factor VIIIc) in human nonspecific cells, such as fibroblasts, hepatoma cells, and lymphoblasts. In rats, erythroid- and liver-type pyruvate kinase transcripts were also detected in brain, lung, and muscle. The abundance of these ``illegitimate'' transcripts is very low; yet, their existence and the possibility of amplifying them by the cDNA polymerase chain reaction provide a powerful tool to analyze pathological transcripts of any tissue-specific gene by using any accessible cell.