Claims for Patent: 5,955,330

Summary for Patent: 5,955,330

Title:	Means for enhancing gene expression
Abstract:	The present invention provides a novel means for enhancing the expression of genes by the use of the first intron of the Zea mays Sh1 cDNA, functional sequences derived therefrom and/or sequences flanking the first Sh1 intron, placed between the transcription start site and the translation start site of the coding sequence for enhanced expression is sought. The DNA sequences provided herein can be used, for example, to increase protein expression in engineered plant cells or in transgenic plants.
Inventor(s):	Vasil; Vimla (Gainesville, FL), Clancy; Maureen A. (Gainesville, FL), Ferl; Robert J. (Gainesville, FL), Vasil; Indra K. (Gainesville, FL), Hannah; L. Curtis (Gainesville, FL)
Assignee:	Research Corporation Technologies (Tucson, AZ)
Application Number:	08/483,376
Patent Claims:	1. A method for increasing the expression rate of a gene in a plant cell, said method comprising the steps of: (a) inserting an intron into said gene, the intron comprising a 5' splice site of the Sh1 first intron and a 3' splice site of the Sh1 first intron, the 5' splice site being situated closer to the 5' end of said gene than the 3' splice site, said intron being inserted between a transcription start site and a translation start site of said gene, and said intron increasing the expression of a downstream coding sequence thereby forming an intron-modified gene; and (b) introducing said intron-modified gene into a plant cell such that said gene is expressed under the control of said intron in said plant cell, whereby the expression rate of said gene is increased as compared to an unmodified gene. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said intron has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in from about nucleotide 53 through about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said intron further comprises from about 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said intron, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function, and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are flanking sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Sh1 locus of maize. 4. The method of claim 2 wherein said intron further comprises from about 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said intron, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function, and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are exon sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Adh locus of maize. 5. The method of claim 2 wherein said intron further comprises a nucleotide insert having from about 1 to about 1080 nucleotides, said nucleotide insert being inserted between the 5' splice site of the Sh1 first intron and the 3' splice site of the Sh1 first intron, and wherein said nucleotide insert lacks an intron splice site in an opposite orientation to said 5' splice site and said 3'splice site of the Sh1 first intron. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 452 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 400 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 452 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 452 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 11. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 12. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 400 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 13. The method of claim 1 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 400 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 14. The method of claim 11 wherein said intron further comprises from about 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said intron, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are exon sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Sh1 locus of maize. 15. The method of claim 11 wherein said intron further comprises from about 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said intron, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are exon sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Adh locus of maize. 16. The method of claim 1 wherein said host system is selected from the group consisting of plant tissue, a plant cell, a yeast, a bacterium, an insect cell and a mammalian cell. 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said plant tissue or plant cell is from a monocotyledonous plant. 18. The method of claim 1 wherein said gene is a plant-expressible gene and wherein said plant-expressible gene is expressed in plant tissue. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said plant tissue is from a monocotyledonous plant. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said monocotyledonous plant is selected from the group consisting of Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum, and Zea mays. 21. The method of claim 1 wherein said intron-modified gene further comprises a promoter and wherein said intron is inserted into said intron-modified gene 3' to said promoter and 5' to a translation start site. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter or an Sh1 promoter. 23. The method of claim 1 wherein said intron-modified gene is introduced into said plant cell by a technique for introducing foreign DNA sequences into plant tissue wherein said technique is electroporation, ballistic transformation, T-DNA mediated transformation or microinjection. 24. The method of claim 1 wherein said intron-modified gene is introduced into said plant cell by electroporation. 25. A method for increasing the expression rate of a gene in a plant cell, said method comprising the steps of: (a) inserting exon DNA sequences into said gene, the exon DNA sequences corresponding to FIG. 1A from position 43 to 52 and from position 1081 to 1097, said exon DNA sequences being inserted between a transcription start site and a translation start site of said gene, said exon DNA sequences increasing the expression of an associated coding sequence, thereby forming an exon-modified gene; and (b) introducing said exon-modified gene into a host plant cell such that said gene is expressed under the control of said exon DNA sequences in said host system, whereby the expression rate of said gene is increased as compared to an unmodified gene. 26. The method of claim 25 wherein said exon DNA sequences further comprise a 5' CC dinucleotide and 3' C nucleotide. 27. An intron-modified gene comprising a 5' splice site of the Sh1 first intron and a 3' splice site of the Sh1 first intron, the splice sites being inserted in normal 5' to 3' orientation into a 5'-untranslated region of the gene between a start site of transcription and a start site of translation. 28. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 comprising a nucleotide sequence as a set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 through about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 29. The intron-modified gene of claim 28 further comprising from 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said nucleotide sequence, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are flanking sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Sh1 locus of maize. 30. The intron-modified gene of claim 28 further comprising from 1 to about 50 additional nucleotides on either end of said nucleotide sequence, wherein said additional nucleotides comprise sequences of exon 1 and exon 2 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function and wherein said exon 1 and exon 2 are flanking sequences adjacent to intron 1 of the Adh locus of maize. 31. The intron-modified gene of claim 28 further comprising a nucleotide insert having from 1 to about 1080 nucleotides, said nucleotide insert being inserted between the 5' splice site of the Sh1 first intron and the 3' splice site of the Sh1 first intron, and wherein said nucleotide insert lacks an intron splice site in an opposite orientation to said 5' splice site and said 3'splice site of the Sh1 first intron. 32. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 further wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 452 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 33. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 400 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5 or 3' splice sites. 34. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 35. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 452 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 36. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 452 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 37. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 823 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 38. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 400 and said 3' splice site comprises a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 736 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not significantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 39. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 wherein said 5' splice site has a nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 53 to about nucleotide 178 and said 3' splice site comprises nucleotide sequence as set forth in FIG. 1A from about nucleotide 400 to about nucleotide 1080 or functionally equivalent duplications or modifications in length or minor sequence variations that do not signifecantly effect function of the 5' or 3' splice sites. 40. The intron-modified gene of claim 27 further comprising a promoter and wherein the intron is inserted into said intron-modified gene 3' to said promoter and 5' to a translation start site. 41. The intron-modified gene of claim 40 wherein said promoter is a CaMV 35S promoter or an Sh1 promoter. 42. An exon-modified gene comprising exon DNA sequences corresponding to FIG. 1A from position 43 to 52 and from position 1081 to 1097. 43. The exon-modified gene of claim 42 wherein said exon DNA sequences further comprise a 5' CC dinucleotide and 3' C nucleotide. 44. An exon-modified gene comprising exon DNA sequences corresponding to SEQ ID NO:2. 45. An exon-modified gene comprising exon DNA sequences corresponding to SEQ ID NO:3. 46. A gene construct selected from the group consisting of pShIfSCN, p35SIfSCN and 35SIfACN.

Details for Patent 5,955,330

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132	06/04/1986		2016-09-21
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132			2016-09-21
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	Injection	103132			2016-09-21