Retinoic Acid Activated Reporter

Introduction Retinoic Acid Receptors (RARs) are transcription factors that are involved in many cellular processes. Upon binding of activators such as Retinoic Acid, a derivative of Vitamin A, RARs bind a consensus DNA sequence, termed the Retinoic Acid Response Element (RARE), and initiate transcription. RAREs are used in certain transcriptional reporters. Upon activation of the reporter, the bioluminescent protein luciferase is produced and easily quantified through its enzymatic activity, thereby reporting the RAR activity in the cell or tissue. Technology description Previously developed Retinoic Acid Reporters with three tandem RAREs are generally not sensitive enough for screens to identify regulators of Retinoic Acidmediated pathways. Scientists at the UW have developed a more sensitive reporter termed Retinoic Acid Activated Reporter (RAAR) by cloning luciferase and 12 RAREs into the promoter region of the pSL9 plasmid. This vector is a lentiviral platform, with which stable cell lines expressing the reporter can be generated. This reporter allows users to assess RAR activity in virtually all cell lines or tissues. Business opportunity Luciferase-based transcriptional reporters are commonly used to study and identify novel compounds or genes involved in transcriptional based pathways. RAAR can be used to study Retinoic Acid-mediated pathways. Stage of development The inventors have cloned the reporter and successfully used it to create stable cell lines, in which they have observed up to 180 fold activation. Intellectual property position The UW is currently reviewing this technology for worldwide patent protection. For more information on this technology contact:
Bolong Cao, Ph.D., MBA Licensing Officer, Invention Licensing [email protected] 206-543-3970

Type of Offer: Licensing



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