A novel regulation system of gene expression responding to protease signal

A cationic polymer, in which a cleavage site with Caspase 3 (CPCC) was introduced, was synthesized. Then an interaction between the polymer and a DNA was investigated with gel electrophoresis in the presence or absence of Caspase 3. When the CPCC polymer was added to the DNA solution, the migration of the DNA was suppressed with the increase of the addition of the polymer in the gel electrophoresis. However, this delay was cancelled with the addition of Caspase 3. These results suggested that this synthesized polymer interacted with the DNA, and the side chain cleavage of this polymer by Caspase 3 reduced the interaction between the polymer and the DNA. Such system would be useful for the design of an artificial gene regulation system responding to cellular apoptotic signal.