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Promoter activity of the 1731 Drosophila retrotransposon in a human monocytic cell line
Author(s) -
Codani-Simonart Sophie,
Lacoste Jérôme,
Best-Belpomme Martin,
Fourcade-Peronnet Frédérique
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(93)81068-b
Subject(s) - retrotransposon , footprinting , biology , transcription (linguistics) , long terminal repeat , cell culture , dna footprinting , microbiology and biotechnology , drosophila melanogaster , transcription factor , u937 cell , promoter , genetics , transposable element , gene , dna binding protein , gene expression , genome , linguistics , philosophy
The resemblance between retrotransposons and retroviruses suggests an evolutionary relationship and indicates that they may share common transcription factors. We have analyzed the behaviour of the Drosophila 1731 retrotransposon promoter in the human monocytic U937 cell line. We show that the long terminal repeat (LTR) of 1731 promotes CAT (chloramphenicol acetyl transferase) activity in these cells, in which it is enhanced by phorbol esters. Using gel mobility assays, we detected a human nuclear protein that binds in the U3 region of the LTR in a sequence‐specific manner. Its precise target was determined by a DNase I footprinting experiment.