Functional analysis of the mouse myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein gene promoter in the oligodendroglial CG4 cell line.

Myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is a late phylogenetic acquisition among vertebrates that is found only in mammals. MOG is a minor component of myelin protein, representing approximately 0.01-0.05% of the total. Regulatory elements in the MOG gene were identified by transfecting the oligodendroglial CG4 cell line with chimeric MOG-luciferase genes. Only a few hundred base pairs upstream of the coding sequence were necessary for high-level activity of the mouse MOG promoter. More distal recognition sites may exist, because silencing activity, indicative of negative regulatory elements, was detected upstream of base pair 657. Transcriptional activity of chimeric MOG- and myelin basic protein-luciferase genes was greater in CG4 cells than in 3T3 fibroblasts or C6 glioblastoma, demonstrating their superiority for functional analysis of myelin gene regulatory elements.