Kimura T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 1995;395:259-68.
Before the onset of labor, the myometrium becomes extremely sensitive to oxytocin, for which it is a primary target tissue, because of a tremendous increase in the number of oxytocin receptors. To study this dynamic expression and regulation of the receptor, we cloned the human oxytocin receptor cDNA in 1992 and characterized its expression in female reproductive organs and in the rat brain using the receptor cDNA and anti-oxytocin receptor monoclonal antibodies. In the uterus, we revealed that oxytocin receptor expression is mainly regulated at the transcriptional level. For the investigation of this transcriptional regulation, we isolated and characterized the human oxytocin receptor gene. The gene contains 3 introns and 4 exons and is assigned to 3p26.2 of human chromosome 3. In the 5'-upstream region of this gene, we found several known binding sites for transcription regulation factors including the nucleofactor-interleukin 6 binding consensus sequence and an acute phase reactant-responsive element. Our findings on the structure of the oxytocin receptor gene should help to elucidate the mechanism by which expression of the gene is induced dramatically at parturition in the uterus and how the gene is regulated in other organs such as the mammary gland and central nervous system.
在分娩开始前，由于催产素受体数量的大幅增加，子宫肌层对催产素变得极其敏感，子宫肌层是催产素的主要靶组织。为了研究该受体的动态表达和调控，我们于1992年克隆了人催产素受体cDNA，并使用该受体cDNA和抗催产素受体单克隆抗体，对其在女性生殖器官和大鼠脑中的表达进行了表征。在子宫中，我们发现催产素受体的表达主要在转录水平受到调控。为了研究这种转录调控，我们分离并表征了人催产素受体基因。该基因包含3个内含子和4个外显子，定位于人类染色体3的3p26.2。在该基因的5'上游区域，我们发现了几个已知的转录调控因子结合位点，包括核因子-白细胞介素6结合共有序列和急性期反应物反应元件。我们关于催产素受体基因结构的研究结果，应有助于阐明该基因在子宫分娩时表达显著增加的机制，以及该基因在乳腺和中枢神经系统等其他器官中是如何被调控的。
