Identification of proximal sequence element nucleotides contributing to the differential expression of variant U4 small nuclear RNA genes.

The two U4 genes in the chicken genome code for distinct sequence variants of U4 small nuclear RNA that are differentially expressed during development. Whereas U4B RNA is constitutively expressed, U4X RNA is specifically down-regulated relative to U4B in a tissue-specific manner during development. To investigate mechanisms controlling the differential expression of the U4B and U4X genes, chimeric U4 genes were constructed and their transcriptional activities assayed by injection into Xenopus oocytes or by transfection of CV-1 cells. The proximal regulatory region of the U4B gene and the enhancers of both the U4B and U4X genes functioned efficiently in each expression system. However, the proximal region of the U4X gene was inactive. To localize and identify the responsible nucleotides, reciprocal point mutations were introduced into the U4X and U4B proximal regulatory regions. The results indicate that the U4X gene contains a suboptimal proximal sequence element, and that this results primarily from the identities of the nucleotides at positions -61 and -57 relative to the transcription start site.