Open AccessAn 83-nucleotide promoter of the acetylcholine receptor epsilon-subunit gene confers preferential synaptic expression in mouse muscle.
Author(s) -
Aymeric Duclert,
Nathalie Savatier,
JeanPierre Changeux
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.90.7.3043
Subject(s) - biology , gene expression , myod , microbiology and biotechnology , acetylcholine receptor , neuromuscular junction , gene , in vivo , receptor , biochemistry , genetics , neuroscience
The expression of the acetylcholine receptor epsilon-subunit gene is restricted to the endplate of adult muscle fibers. We have started to study the regulatory elements of the epsilon-subunit gene promoter that are important for its synaptic expression. We used, for this purpose, a rapid method of in vivo expression after DNA injection into the muscle tissue [Wolff, J. A., Malone, R. W., Williams, P., Chong, W., Acsadi, G., Jani, A. & Felgner, P. L. (1990) Science 247, 1465-1468]. Our results show that a construction containing 83 nucleotides upstream from the transcription start site is sufficient to obtain preferential endplate expression. Moreover, mutation of a MyoD binding site located around position-70 does not alter this synaptic expression. We also studied the expression of this promoter in vitro in muscle primary cultures and showed the presence of a positive element between positions -122 and -83. Comparison of in vivo and in vitro results reveals that the elements important for in vivo localization at the synapse and in vitro expression in cultured muscle cells may differ.