Human Matrix Attachment Regions Insulate Transgene Expression from Chromosomal Position Effects in Drosophila melanogaster

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Abstract
Germ line transformation of white−Drosophila embryos with P-element vectors containingwhite expression cassettes results in flies with different eye color phenotypes due to position effects at the sites of transgene insertion. These position effects can be cured by specific DNA elements, such as the Drosophila scs and scs′elements, that have insulator activity in vivo. We have used this system to determine whether human matrix attachment regions (MARs) can function as insulator elements in vivo. Two different human MARs, from the apolipoprotein B and α1-antitrypsin loci, insulatedwhite transgene expression from position effects inDrosophila melanogaster. Both elements reduced variability in transgene expression without enhancing levels of whitegene expression. In contrast, expression of whitetransgenes containing human DNA segments without matrix-binding activity was highly variable in Drosophila transformants. These data indicate that human MARs can function as insulator elements in vivo.