Mechanism of specific expression of glutathione transferase P gene during hepatocarcinogenesis.

The mechanism of specific expression of glutathione transferase P gene during hepatocarcinogenesis of the rat has been investigated by cloning the gene and determining the upstream regulatory sequences. Two enhancers and a silencer are located within 3 kb upstream of the promoter. The stronger enhancer designated GPEI has two TPA (12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate)-response element (TRE)-like sequences arranged in a palindrome at a 3 base pairs spacing. This special combination was found to form a very strong enhancer which could act efficiently even in F9 cells where the collagenase enhancer with a singlet TRE cannot work due to the low c-jun content. Whether this structure is operating with a very low concentration of c-jun/c-fos heterodimer or with any other proteins remains to be determined. These findings suggest that new and more efficient enhancers evolve by a combination of basic enhancer elements. The silencer region consists of several sequences that can bind specific protein(s) and works cooperatively.