AMS BIO has launched MC-Easy minicircle technology for labs looking to produce sustained transgene expression in model animal generation and gene therapy research without the risks of introducing exogenous DNA.
Minicircles are circular DNA elements that no longer contain antibiotic resistance markers or the bacterial origin of replication. These small vectors can be used in vivo or in vitro and provide for long-term transient expression of one or more transgenes without the risk of immunogenic responses that can be caused by the bacterial backbone in standard plasmids. Minicircle DNA vectors allow sustained transgene expression in quiescent cells and tissues. These vectors have demonstrated 10- to 1,000-fold enhancement with an increase in long-term transgene expression compared to regular plasmids in quiescent tissues in vivo and in vitro.
Until now, the major obstacle to the widespread use of minicircles has been the time-consuming, labour intensive production. The MC-Easy System enables a simple, reproducible and efficient way to produce high quality Minicircle DNA. The finely tuned growth and induction media produces minicircle DNA that is free of parental and genomic DNA contamination. The kit also includes an additional, innovative method for degrading any contaminating genomic DNA using an ATP-dependent DNase reagent that will selectively remove genomic DNA but will not affect minicircle DNA yield. This method produces clean and effective minicircle every time.
