This vector system is designed for efficient analysis of mammalian cis-regulatory elements in vitro. Typically, a putative enhancer of interest is cloned into this vector, and the resulting construct is used to transfect mammalian cell lines of interest. Expression of a downstream fluorescent or chemiluminescent reporter can then be used as a readout of enhancer activity.
This vector system is useful for identifying enhancer elements, determining tissue- and spatial-specificity of enhancers, comparing enhancer variants, and many other applications.
This vector can be introduced into mammalian cells by conventional transfection. Delivering plasmid vectors into mammalian cells by conventional transfection is one of the most widely used procedures in biomedical research. While several sophisticated gene delivery vector systems have been developed over the years such as lentiviral vectors, adenovirus vectors, AAV vectors and piggyBac, conventional plasmid transfection remains the workhorse of gene delivery in many labs. This is largely due to its technical simplicity as well as good efficiency in a wide range of cell types. A key feature of transfection with regular plasmid vectors is that it is transient, with only a very low fraction of cells stably integrating the plasmid in the genome (typically less than 1%).
For further information about this vector system, please refer to the papers below.