Cell-specific expression of the rat secretogranin II promoter.

Academic Article

Abstract

  • Secretogranin II (SgII) is a member of the granin family of secretory proteins, which are selectively expressed in neuroendocrine cells. As a first step in understanding the molecular basis for cell type-specific expression of SgII, we isolated a 12-kb clone from a rat genomic library that contained the entire rat SgII coding region, the transcription initiation site, and approximately 3 kb of 5'-flanking region. Within 75 bp of the transcription start site (+1) we located a TATA box and a consensus cAMP responsive element. Within the 5'-flanking region, a number of potential cis-acting elements were identified, including 2 Pit-1 binding sites, 15 E box motifs, and near-perfect matches for AP-1 and AP-2 sites. To demonstrate cell type-specific expression the rat SgII gene, a plasmid containing 2.6 kb of the 5'-flanking region of the SgII gene fused to the luciferase reporter gene (p2774Luc) was transfected into rat pheochromocytoma PC-12 cells, rat pituitary GH4C1 (GH) cells, human BE(2)-M17 (M17) neuroblastoma cells, and mouse fibroblast NIH/3T3 cells. The promoter activity was 6- to 36-fold higher in neuroendocrine cells than in NIH/ 3T3 cells. Progressive deletions in the 5'-flanking region to 61 bp upstream of the start site (p223Luc) had no effect on promoter activity in PC-12 cells. On the other hand, a 5'-deletion in the SgII promoter to -1032 increased promoter activity 3.8-fold in GH cells. This level of expression was maintained when the SgII promoter was further truncated to -189, whereas truncation to -61 resulted in a 2.6-fold reduction in promoter activity. These results suggest that the sequence between -61 and +162 bp is sufficient for SgII promoter activity in PC-12 cells. However, other elements in the 5'-flanking region contribute to both positive and negative regulation of the rat SgII gene in GH cells.

    • Authors

    Published In

  • Endocrinology  Journal

    • Keywords

  • Animals, Base Sequence, Cell Line, Chromogranins, Cloning, Molecular, Gene Deletion, Gene Expression, Gene Transfer Techniques, Genome, Humans, Mice, Molecular Sequence Data, Oligonucleotide Probes, PC12 Cells, Pituitary Gland, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Proteins, Rats, Transcription, Genetic

    • Digital Object Identifier (doi)

    Author List

  • Jones LC; Day RN; Pittler SJ; Valentine DL; Scammell JG

    • Start Page

  • 3815

    • End Page

  • 3822

    • Volume

  • 137

    • Issue

  • 9