Tandem AP-1-binding sites within the human beta-globin dominant control region function as an inducible enhancer in erythroid cells.

A powerful enhancer has been mapped to an 18-bp DNA segment located 11 kb 5' to the human epsilon-globin gene within the dominant control or locus-activating region. This enhancer is inducible in K562 human erythroleukemia cells, increasing linked gamma-globin promoter/luciferase gene expression to 170-fold over an enhancerless construct. The enhancer consists of tandem AP-1-binding sites, phased 10 bp apart, which are both required for full activity. DNA-protein binding assays with nuclear extracts from induced cells demonstrate a high molecular weight complex on the enhancer. The formation of this complex also requires both AP-1 sites and correlates with maximal enhancer activity. Induction of the enhancer may have a role in the increase in globin gene transcription that characterizes erythroid maturation. Enhancer activity appears to be mediated by the binding of a complex of proteins from the jun and fos families to tandem AP-1 consensus sequences.