Open AccessTissue- and species-specific promoter elements of rat γ-crystallin genes
Author(s) -
Ron Peek,
Peter van der Logt,
Nicolette H. Lubsen,
John G.G. Schoenmakers
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/18.5.1189
Subject(s) - biology , microbiology and biotechnology , promoter , gene , lens (geology) , retina , crystallin , reporter gene , chloramphenicol acetyltransferase , conserved sequence , gene expression , genetics , peptide sequence , paleontology , neuroscience
The 5' flanking regions of the six rat gamma-crystallin genes (gamma A-gamma F) are all capable of conferring lens-specific expression to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter gene in either transdifferentiating chicken neural retina cells or mouse lens epithelial cells. Deletion mapping of the most active gamma-crystallin promoter region, the gamma D region, showed that at least three elements are required for maximal expression in mouse lens epithelial cells: element(s) located between -200 and -106, a conserved CG rich region around position -75, and a CG stretch around -15. The region between -200 and -106 was dispensable in transdifferentiating chicken neural retina cells, which instead required the region between -106 and -78. The maximal activity of the gamma E and gamma F promoters was also dependent upon the integrity of the conserved CG region located around -75. A synthetic oligonucleotide containing this sequence was capable of lens-specific enhancement of the activity of the tk promoter in transdifferentiating chicken neural retina cells but not in mouse lens epithelial cells. Our results further show that this region may contain a silencer element, active in non-lens tissues, as well.