IDENTIFYING AGENTS THAT PREVENT PALINDROME FORMATION AND GENE AMPLIFICATION

摘要

The present invention provides methods and constructs for identifying agents that can be used to inhibit palindrome formation and gene amplification is mammalian cells. The methods comprises exposing a population of recombinant cells containing a construct comprising a nucleotide sequence for double strand chromosome breakage operatively associated with an inverted repeat; and further comprising a promoter and selectable marker; b) exposing to the agent a control population of recombinant mammalian cells containing a construct comprising the a promoter and a selectable marker; and c) identifying the agent that prevents palindrome formation and gene amplification by comparing the number of palindromes formed in the test population of recombinant cells to the number formed in the control population of recombinant cells. The mammalian cells can be Chinese hamster ovary cells or murine embryonic stem cells.