Potential limitations of the Sleeping Beauty transposon use in gene expression studies

Weronika Sowińska; Mateusz Wawro; Aleksandra Solecka; Aneta Kasza

doi:10.18388/abp.2019_2839

Weronika Sowińska Department of Cell Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9549-9347
Mateusz Wawro Department of Cell Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5964-3639
Aleksandra Solecka Department of Cell Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4580-9850
Aneta Kasza Department of Cell Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9813-1567

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18388/abp.2019_2839

Abstract

MCPIP2 is the least known member of the MCPIP family of proteins. Recently we have found that it is a new RNase involved in transcript turnover. However, the full spectrum of its cellular targets is still unidentified. To discover transcripts which are regulated by this protein we have employed Sleeping Beauty transposons. This tool allows for rapid generation of a stable transgenic cell line with inducible expression of the desired gene. In this study, we analysed how the Sleeping Beauty system itself influences expression of chosen genes, namely IL-6, Regnase-1 and VEGF. We found that the system alone may influence expression of IL-6. Our results indicate that Sleeping Beauty transposons should be used with caution in studies that are focused on changes in the transcript level.