Practical application of massively parallel reporter assay in biotechnology and medicine

Abstract

The development and viability of an organism relies on tissue-specific gene programs. The genome regulatory elements play a key role in the regulation of such programs, whereas its disfunction can lead to the establishment of various pathologies, including cancer, congenital disorders, and autoimmune diseases. The development of high-throughput approaches in genomics has led to the emergence of massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA), which enable genome-wide screening and functional verification of regulatory elements. Although MPRA was originally used for investigation of fundamental aspects of epigenetics, it also has a great potential for clinical and practical biotechnology. Currently, MPRA is used for validation of clinically significant mutations, identification of tissue-specific regulatory elements, identification of the favorable loci for transgene integration, as well as represents an essential tool for creating highly efficient expression systems, with a wide range of applications from protein production and design of novel therapeutic antibody super-producers to gene therapy. In this review, the basic principles and areas of practical application of high-throughput reporter assays will be discussed.

Keywords

massively parallel reporter assay / MPRA / expression systems / biotechnology / clinical bioengineering

Funding

Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации и Экспертный институт социальных исследованийMinistry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation(Соглашение № 075-15-2021-1086, контракт № RF----193021X0015, 15.ИП.21.0015)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

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