41 results about "Minicircle" patented technology

Methods for the production of supercoiled DNA minicircles and their use as substrates are described herein.

The present invention relates to a method for the production of a minicircle. In the method of the present invention, a parent plasmid is provided which has a nucleic sequence flanked by recombination sites. This parent plasmid is exposed to an enzyme which causes recombination at the recombination sites, thereby to form a (i) minicircle comprising the nucleic acid sequence and (ii) a miniplasmid comprising the remainder of the parent plasmid. One recombination site is modified at the 5′ end such that its reaction with the enzyme is less efficient than the wild type site, and the other recombination site is modified at the 3′ end such that its reaction with the enzyme is less efficient than the wild type site, and the other recombination site is modified at the 3′ end such that its reaction with the enzyme is less efficient than the wild type site, both modified sites being located in the minicircle after recombination. This favours the formation of minicircle.

The present invention relates to the production and use of covalently closed circular (ccc) recombinant DNA molecules such as plasmids, cosmids, bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), bacteriophages, viral vectors and hybrids thereof, and more particularly to vector modifications that improve expression of said DNA molecules.

The present invention relates to a non-viral minicircle vector expressing a SOX gene, a stem cell into which the vector is introduced, a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating a cartilage disease, including the stem cell, and a method for constructing the vector. The transformation of mesenchymal stem cells with MC / SOX-Trio or MC / SOX-Duo, which is a non-viral minicircle vector according to the present invention, can completely exclude the necessity of expensive growth factors that have been indispensably used in inducing the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into chondrocytes. Accordingly, the mesenchymal stem cells transformed therewith, when implanted in vivo, can differentiate into chondrocytes by themselves, and thus have an advantage capable of simplifying the existing complicated steps of culturing cells to induce differentiation and then transplanting the cells.Further, unlike existing vector systems in which antibiotic-resistant genes and other bacteria-derived exogenous genes are simultaneously transferred to cells even after transformation, the vector of the present invention minimizes transfer of unnecessary genes into target cells by allowing two or three SOX genes necessary only for differentiation into chondrocytes to be regulated under one promoter, and thus can be utilized as a non-viral vector system in the most advantageous form for use in clinical application of stem cell-gene therapeutic agents.

Compositions and methods are provided for the treatment of an ischemic cardiovascular condition by providing a patient with a novel non-viral minicircle DNA vector comprising polynucleotide sequences that potentiate HIF-1 activity, including RNAi or antisense agents selective for proteins involved in HIF1 inactivation.

The present invention provides minicircle nucleic acid vector formulations for use in administering to a subject, wherein the minicircle nucleic acid vectors include a polynucleotide of interest, a product hybrid sequence of a unidirectional site-specific recombinase, and are devoid of plasmid backbone bacterial DNA sequences. Also provided are methods of producing the subject formulations as well as methods for administering the minicircle nucleic acid vector formulations to a subject. The subject methods and compositions find use in a variety of different applications, including both research and therapeutic applications.