Table 1 Reporter plasmids used in this study

Positive control for assaying the effectiveness of transfection

Kanamycin/neomycin marker. This reporter plasmid encodes a fusion of eGFP and luciferase from the firefly Photinus pyralis driven by the human CMV immediate early promoter (Clontech, Cat.# 6169-1).

Negative control

Kanamycin/neomycin marker. This vector was created by removing the CMV promoter of pEGFPLuc with the restriction enzymes AseI and NheI, followed by blunting of 5'-cohesive ends and autoligation.

Determination of the zfTERT promoter activity

Kanamycin marker. This vector was created by replacing the CMV promoter of pEGFPLuc with a 1 or 3 Kb-fragment of the zebrafish telomerase promoter region.

Assessment of NF-κB activation

Ampicillin marker. This vector carries a the cDNA encoding the firefly (P. pyralis) luciferase gene placed under the control of three synthetic copies of the κB consensus of the immunoglobulin κ-chain promoter cloned in the BamHI site located upstream of the conalbumin transcription start site [19].

Normalization

Ampicillin marker. The pRL vectors contain the cDNA encoding Renilla luciferase cloned from the anthozoan coelenterate Renilla reniformis (sea pansy). Three different promoter configurations are available; CMV, TK and SV40.

Normalization

Ampicillin marker. This vector was obtained by inserting the EF1α promoter in the pRL-null vector (Promega, Cat. # E2271).