BIDIRECTIONAL GENE SWITCHING WITH THE TETRACYCLINE REPRESSOR AND A NOVEL TETRACYCLINE ANTAGONIST

We have screened a panel of tetracycline (tc)-like compounds for their potential use with tc-repressor (tetR) based gene switches, The inter action between tc and tetR appears quite specific, as only tc itself a nd its close homologues anhydro-tc and doxycycline strongly inhibited DNA binding. However, a single tc-like compound, GR33076X, increased D NA binding of the tetR-VP1G fusion protein, both in eukaryotic cells a nd in bacteria, We provide evidence that this antagonist of tetracycli ne is potentially useful for accelerated gene switching, especially in whole animals.