Deletion of 3' untranslated region of human BSF-2 mRNA causes stabilization of the mRNA and high-level expression in mouse NIH3T3 cells.

Most lymphokine genes have an mRNA-destabilizing signal in their 3' untranslated sequences. In this study we demonstrated the usefulness of deletion of this sequence for lymphokine production. By expression of B cell stimulatory factor 2 (BSF-2) cDNAs with and without this region in mouse NIH3T3 cells, it was shown that mRNA of BSF-2 with the 3' destabilizing sequence was very unstable, and that by deletion of this region, the mRNA was stabilized. More than 10-fold BSF-2 productivity was observed in cells harboring the plasmid without the 3' region than in those with it.