Molecular cloning and cell cycle-specific regulation of a functional human thymidine kinase gene

A functional thymidine kinase (TK; ATP:thymidine 5'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.21) gene has been molecularly cloned from human DNA. The gene was rescued from a genomic library of TK-deficient mouse L cells transformed to the TK+ phenotype with total HeLa cell DNA. Of 14 overlapping clones, only one contained the intact human TK gene. The cloned recombinant bacteriophage carries a 16-kilobase insert derived entirely from human DNA and is capable of transforming LTK- cells to TK+ with an efficiency of 10 TK+ colonies per ng of DNA per 10(6) cells. Restriction endonuclease mapping shows that the functional human TK gene is at least twice as long as that reported for chicken. A 1.6-kilobase Xho I/EcoRI fragment was subcloned and found to hybridize to a human mRNA of 1.5 kilobases. When introduced into LTK- cells, the cloned human TK gene is regulated in the cell cycle-specific manner characteristic of TK+ mammalian cells. That is, TK activity in synchronized cells increases markedly with the onset of DNA synthesis. The signals governing the S-phase induction of TK activity reside within 16 kilobases of human DNA and are correctly interpreted by mouse cells.