Isolation and partial characterization of the gene for goose fatty acid synthase.

Fatty acid synthase is regulated by diet and hormones, with regulation being primarily transcriptional. In chick embryo hepatocytes in culture, triiodothyronine stimulates accumulation of enzyme and transcription of the gene. Since the 5'-flanking region of this gene is likely involved in hormonal regulation of its expression, we have isolated and partially characterized an avian fatty acid synthase gene. A genomic DNA library was constructed in a cosmid vector and screened with cDNA clones that contained sequence complementary to the 3' end of goose fatty acid synthase mRNA. A genomic clone (approximately 35 kilobase pairs (kb] was isolated, and a 6.5-kb EcoRI fragment thereof contained DNA complementary to the 3' noncoding region of fatty acid synthase mRNA. Additional cosmid libraries were screened with 5' fragments of previously isolated genomic clones, resulting in the isolation of five overlapping cosmid DNAs. The entire region of cloned DNA spans approximately 105 kb. Exon-containing fragments were identified by hybridization with end-labeled poly(A)+ RNA and by hybridization of labeled exon-containing genomic DNA fragments to fatty acid synthase mRNA. A new set of cDNA clones spanning approximately 3.2 kb was isolated from a lambda-ZAP goose liver cDNA library using the 5'-most exon-containing fragment of the 5'-most genomic DNA clone. This region of mRNA contains a 5'-untranslated sequence and a continuous open reading frame which includes a region that codes for the essential cysteine of the beta-ketoacyl synthase domain. The entire fatty acid synthase gene spans about 50 kb. The 5' 15 kb of the gene contain 7 exons. S1 nuclease and primer extension analyses were used to identify a single site for initiation of transcription, 174 nucleotides upstream from the putative translation initiation codon. Putative "TATA" and "CCAAT" boxes are located 28 and 60 base pairs (bp), respectively, upstream of the site of initiation of transcription. The 5'-flanking 597 bp of DNA contains G/C-rich sequences including several "GC" boxes corresponding to binding sites for the nuclear transcription factor Sp1. Putative sites for AP-2, C/EBP, and the triiodothyronine and glucocorticoid receptors also were found in this region. A chimeric DNA, containing approximately 1.6 kb of 5'-flanking sequence and 139 bp of untranslated sequence of the goose fatty acid synthase gene ligated to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase (CAT) gene, was transfected into chick embryo hepatocytes in culture. Cells treated with triiodothyronine contained increased chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and fatty acid synthase activities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)