PCNA: A Constitutive Human Promoter for Gene Expression for Functional Studies and Therapeutic Applications

Abstract

We have cloned the promoter of the human PCNA gene that codes for a proliferating cell-nuclear antigen. Two promoter DNA fragments were cloned of 1416 and 389 bp in length. Expression of luc and PDX1 genes under the control of the PCNA promoter was demonstrated in transient and stable transfection in human and mouse cell lines. We have shown that PCNA promoter within genetically engineered vectors is able to promote efficient expression of heterologous genes at a level comparable to a widely used CMV promoter. In particular, we report a comparative analysis of expression of PDX1, a master regulator gene in the pancreas, under PCNA promoter in pancreatic cancer cells. We propose that PCNA promoter can be used as a universal one in the design of therapeutic gene constructs.