Regulation of chicken vimentin gene expression by serum, phorbol ester, and growth factors: identification of a novel fibroblast growth factor-inducible element.

Vimentin is a cytoskeletal protein that belongs to the intermediate filament protein family. It is normally expressed in cells of mesenchymal origin and is developmentally as well as cell cycle regulated. Multiple silencer elements as well as unique antisilencer element are responsible for regulating the chicken vimentin gene. The silencer elements bind a protein of M(r) 90,000 (the silencer protein), whereas the antisilencer element binds a protein of M(r) 110,000-120,000 (the antisilencer protein). In this study, we examined the effect of serum, phorbol ester, transforming growth factor beta, and fibroblast growth factor of gene expression and identify the regions in the 5'-end of the chicken vimentin gene responsible for induction. The binding activity of both the silencer and the antisilencer proteins are affected by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate treatment, whereas the antisilencer element is inducible by fibroblast growth factor.