Distal AP-1 binding sites mediate basal level enhancement and TPA induction of the mouse heme oxygenase-1 gene.

Basal expression of a chimeric gene (pMHO4CAT) consisting of approximately 7 kilobase pairs (kbp) of the 5'-flanking region of the mouse heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene is 2- to 10-fold greater than that of an analogous construct containing only 1287 bp of the 5'-flanking region (pMHO1CAT) in transiently transfected cultured cells. The enhancer activity has been localized to a 268-base pair (bp) fragment positioned approximately 4 kilobase pairs upstream of the transcription initiation site. This fragment contains two high affinity protein binding sites, regions A and B, as determined by DNase I protection assays using nuclear protein extracts from rat C6 glioma cells. Both sites include core sequence elements, TGAGTCA (region A) and TGTGTCA (region B), that resemble the consensus binding site, TGA(G/C)TCA, of the Jun/Fos (AP-1) family of transcription factors. Purified, bacterially expressed AP-1 (c-Jun homodimer) specifically binds to both elements, exhibiting greater affinity for the region A motif. The expression of pMHO4CAT, but not of pMHO1CAT, is stimulated by the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and the 268-bp enhancer fragment confers TPA inducibility and c-Jun/c-Fos transactivation to the heterologous SV40 promoter. These functions are mediated by the AP-1 binding sites as multiple copies of the region A motif also confer TPA induction and c-Jun/c-Fos transactivation upon a heterologous promoter.