METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PROPAGATING VECTORS CONTAINING TOXIC cDNAs AND ION CHANNEL ASSAY SYSTEMS

摘要

The present invention relates to methods and compositions which enable the propagation of vectors containing cDNAs whose presence has hitherto been toxic to conventional bacterial strains. It is based, at least in part, on the discovery that a bacterial strain having an insertional mutation in the malT gene of Escherichia coli tolerated the propagation of a mec-4 cDNA-containing plasmid which was toxic to other bacterial strains. The methods and compositions of the invention may be particularly useful in the propagation of cDNAs encoding membrane proteins. The present invention also provides for ion channel assay systems comprising MEC-2, MEC-4, MEC-10 or variants thereof.