Evidence for a cAMP-dependent nuclear factor capable of interacting with a specific region of a eukaryotic gene.

Nuclear extracts prepared from the livers of rats treated with or without 8-bromo-cAMP were tested for their ability to bind to various fragments from the flanking region of the gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) [GTP: oxaloacetate carboxy-lyase (transphosphorylating), EC 4.1.1.32] known to contain the element that confers transcriptional regulation by cAMP. Using the nitrocellulose-filtration method, concentration-dependent, apparently saturable binding was seen that is both specific and cAMP dependent. Analysis of various fragments pinpointed the active binding region to positions within the -67 to -111 region, which coincides with the functional regulatory element as shown by recent transfection studies. Formation of an apparently single complex between a synthetic oligomer containing the region from -67 to -111 of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene and a factor in nuclear extracts from cAMP-treated rat liver was visualized by the gel-retardation method. Complex formation is both concentration and cAMP dependent and can be prevented by excess specific but not nonspecific competitor DNA. The congruity of the results with the two different methods suggests that the factor we have detected has properties consistent with a possible role as mediator of the transcriptional control exerted by cAMP in eukaryotic cells.