Abstract: The invention provides a DNA molecule comprising a multicistronic transcription unit coding for i) a polypeptide of interest, and for ii) a selectable marker polypeptide functional in a eukaryotic host cell, wherein the polypeptide of interest has a translation initiation sequence separate from that of the selectable marker polypeptide, and wherein the coding sequence for the polypeptide of interest is upstream from the coding sequence for the selectable marker polypeptide in said multicistronic transcription unit, and wherein an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) is present downstream from the coding sequence for the polypeptide of interest and upstream from the coding sequence for the selectable marker polypeptide, and wherein the nucleic acid sequence coding for the selectable marker polypeptide in the coding strand comprises a GTG or a TTG startcodon.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology and diagnosis. More specifically the present invention relates to the production of proteins in a host cell. Even more specifically, the invention relates to a method for improving expression of two or more proteins in a (host) cell. The method is suited for production of, for example, recombinant antibodies that can be used in a pharmaceutical preparation or as a diagnostic tool. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for obtaining a cell which expresses two or more proteins comprising providing the cell with two or more protein expression units encoding two or more proteins, characterized in that at least two of the protein expression units comprise at least one STAR sequence.