Stimulation of homology-directed gene targeting at an endogenous human locus by a nicking endonuclease.

ABSTRACT: Homologous recombination (HR) is a highly accurate mechanism of DNA repair that can be exploited for homology-directed gene targeting. Since in most cell types HR occurs very infrequently (approximately 10(-6) to 10(-8)), its practical application has been largely restricted to specific experimental systems that allow selection of the few cells that become genetically modified. HR-mediated gene targeting has nonetheless revolutionized genetics by greatly facilitating the analysis of mammalian gene function. Recent studies showed that generation of double-strand DNA breaks at specific loci by designed endonucleases greatly increases the rate of homology-directed gene repair. These findings opened new perspectives for HR-based genome editing in higher eukaryotes. Here, we demonstrate by usin

SUBMITTER: van Nierop GP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2761290 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature