A method for expressing a protein of interest in a cell under conditions of hyperosmolality comprising: introducing a polynucleotide into a cell wherein said polynucleotide comprises: (i) a nucleic acid molecule comprising at least one osmo-responsive transcriptional regulatory element (OR-TRE) comprising (a) at least one TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(A/T)NN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:1), or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(C/G)(A/G)-3' (SEQ ID NO:2) or 5'-(T/A/C)GGAAANN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:4), operatively linked to a transcriptional regulator, and (b) at least one Activator Protein (AP-1)-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-TGA(C/G)TCA-3' (SEQ ID NO:3), operatively linked to said TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, and an additional nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein or peptide that confers a beneficial property to proteins expressed in cells, operatively linked to the transcriptional regulator, wherein said transcriptional regulator is a promoter that is transcriptionally active in a eukaryotic cell, and (ii) a polynucleotide encoding a second protein of interest operatively linked to a promoter; and culturing the cell such that the expression of nucleic acid molecule of (i) imparts said beneficial property to the protein encoded by the polynucleotide of (ii) when said cells are grown under conditions of hyperosmolality, wherein the protein or peptide that confers a beneficial property to proteins expressed in cells is an anti-apoptotic protein; a protein that confers resistance to oxidative stress to a cell; a chaperone protein involved in facilitating protein folding; a protein involved in extracellular secretion of proteins; a glycolytic enzyme; a cell cycle regulation protein; a glycosylation enzyme; or any combination thereof. introducing a polynucleotide into a cell wherein said polynucleotide comprises: (i) a nucleic acid molecule comprising at least one osmo-responsive transcriptional regulatory element (OR-TRE) comprising (a) at least one TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(A/T)NN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:1), or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(C/G)(A/G)-3' (SEQ ID NO:2) or 5'-(T/A/C)GGAAANN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:4), operatively linked to a transcriptional regulator, and (b) at least one Activator Protein (AP-1)-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-TGA(C/G)TCA-3' (SEQ ID NO:3), operatively linked to said TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, and an additional nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein or peptide that confers a beneficial property to proteins expressed in cells, operatively linked to the transcriptional regulator, wherein said transcriptional regulator is a promoter that is transcriptionally active in a eukaryotic cell, and (ii) a polynucleotide encoding a second protein of interest operatively linked to a promoter; and (i) a nucleic acid molecule comprising at least one osmo-responsive transcriptional regulatory element (OR-TRE) comprising (a) at least one TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(A/T)NN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:1), or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(C/G)(A/G)-3' (SEQ ID NO:2) or 5'-(T/A/C)GGAAANN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:4), operatively linked to a transcriptional regulator, and (b) at least one Activator Protein (AP-1)-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-TGA(C/G)TCA-3' (SEQ ID NO:3), operatively linked to said TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, and an additional nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein or peptide that confers a beneficial property to proteins expressed in cells, operatively linked to the transcriptional regulator, wherein said transcriptional regulator is a promoter that is transcriptionally active in a eukaryotic cell, and (a) at least one TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(A/T)NN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:1), or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-(T/A/C)GGAA(C/G)(A/G)-3' (SEQ ID NO:2) or 5'-(T/A/C)GGAAANN(T/A/C)N(T/A/C)-3' (SEQ ID NO:4), operatively linked to a transcriptional regulator, and (b) at least one Activator Protein (AP-1)-responsive transcriptional enhancer comprising the nucleic acid sequence of 5'-TGA(C/G)TCA-3' (SEQ ID NO:3), operatively linked to said TonEBP-responsive transcriptional enhancer or NFATc-responsive transcriptional enhancer, and (ii) a polynucleotide encoding a second protein of interest operatively linked to a promoter; and culturing the cell such that the expression of nucleic acid molecule of (i) imparts said beneficial property to the protein encoded by the polynucleotide of (ii) when said cells are grown under conditions of hyperosmolality,