Open AccessCharacterization of the S-Phase-Specific Transcription Regulatory Elements in a DNA Replication-Independent Testis-Specific H2B (TH2B) Histone Gene
Author(s) -
Inhwan Hwang,
Kyu Lim,
ChiBom Chae
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
molecular and cellular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.14
H-Index - 327
eISSN - 1067-8824
pISSN - 0270-7306
DOI - 10.1128/mcb.10.2.585-592.1990
Subject(s) - biology , histone octamer , histone h2b , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription (linguistics) , histone , origin recognition complex , gene , dna replication , genetics , eukaryotic dna replication , nucleosome , linguistics , philosophy
The testis-specific H2B histone (TH2B) gene is expressed in pachytene spermatocytes of meiotic prophase I during rat spermatogenesis. The TH2B RNA and histones are not synthesized in any other tissues, and the synthesis is independent of DNA replication. However, the cloned TH2B gene has two DNA sequence elements which stimulate transcription of the cloned gene in an S-phase-dependent manner when introduced into somatic cells. The factors interacting with the two elements, CCAAT at -127 base pairs and octamer ATTTGCAT at -93 base pairs, interact with each other to bring about a maximum stimulation of S-phase-dependent transcription. The level of CCAAT and octamer-binding proteins is unchanged during the cell cycle, and the S-phase-dependent transcription of TH2B and endogenous mouse H2B genes does not require synthesis of new proteins during the S phase. Cell cycle-specific posttranslational modification of regulatory proteins may be responsible for the S-phase-dependent transcription of H2B histone genes. The biological significance of the presence of S-phase-specific transcription regulatory elements in the DNA replication-independent and tissue-specific TH2B gene is not known.