Removal of 5 '- and 3 '-untranslated regions enhances erythropoietin gene expression in mammalian cells

Abstract

The effect of the 5′-and 3′-untranslated regions (UTR) of human erythropoietin gene (gEpo) on its expression in mammalian cells was investigated. 5′-UTR-deleted, 3′-UTR-deleted, and 5′,3′-UTR-deleted gEpos were transfected into COS-7 cells, and the amount of transiently expressed Epo was measured. Cells transfected with the 5′,3′-UTR-deleted gEpo showed the highest expression, 2.6 times that with wild-type gEpo. Northern blot analysis indicated that the enhanced expression of 5′,3′-UTR-deleted gEpo might be related with the transcription efficiency.