Chicken HS4 insulator significantly improves baculovirus-mediated foreign gene expression in insect cells by modifying the structure of neighbouring chromatin in virus minichromosome

Abstract

The baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) is widely used as a eukaryotic expression vector for protein production. In the current study, chicken β-globin 5′-HS4 insulator (HS4) was placed downstream of the polyhedrin promoter-directed foreign gene expression cassette in AcMNPV, and found to markedly increase the expression of target gene. When enhanced green fluorescence protein gene ( egfp) was used as the reporter gene, cells infected by the recombinant virus with HS4 (AcEGFP-HS4) showed 3.0 and 2.1-fold stronger fluorescence than that by the control virus without HS4 (AcEGFP) at 72 and 96 h post infection, respectively. The level of egfp mRNA was also much higher in cells infected by AcEGFP-HS4 than that by AcEGFP. An increase in gene expression was also seen when firefly luciferase gene or secreted alkaline phosphatase gene was used as a reporter. The insertion of HS4 in the polyhedrin locus has no significant effect on virus replication. The effect of HS4 was orientation-dependent, and sensitive to inhibitors of histone acetyltransferase. In DNase I sensitivity assay, HS4 significantly increased the sensitivity of neighbouring DNA to nuclease, but had little effect on DNA of a distal locus. These results suggested that HS4 insulator might affect baculovirus gene expression by modifying the structure of neighbouring chromatin in the virus minichromosome.