INCORPORATION OF TRIBUTYRIN ENHANCES THE EXPRESSION OF A REPORTER GENE IN PRIMARY AND IMMORTALIZED CELL-LINES

Advancing the efficiency of foreign gene transfection cart be accompli shed by improving its DNA delivery or expression or varying the compos ition of the DNA construct. A novel method of enhancing gene expressio n by incorporating triacylglycerol into a transfection protocol is des cribed. The triacylglycerol form of butyric acid was chosen because th e addition of the free fatty acid to cells increases gene transcriptio n. The effects of this lipid moiety on transfected gene expression wer e determined for a range of promoters and cell types. in several cases , inclusion of tributyrin resulted in a greater increase in the produc tion of the gene marker product luciferin than that found for the incl usion of free butyric acid. Overall, the relative effects of tributyri n and free butyric acid differ quite markedly for different cell types and promoters. Thus, tributyrin may be a viable alternative to butyri c acid in transfection systems where the free fatty acid has little ef fect.