Jansen E, Ayoubi T A, Meulemans S M, Van De Ven W J
Laboratory for Molecular Oncology, Center for Human Genetics, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Biochem J. 1997 Nov 15;328 ( Pt 1)(Pt 1):69-74. doi: 10.1042/bj3280069.
Prohormone convertases are involved in the tissue-specific endoproteolytic processing of prohormones and neuropeptide precursors within the secretory pathway. In the present study, we have isolated genomic clones comprising the 5'-terminal region of the human prohormone convertase 2 (PC2) gene and established characteristics of the PC2 promoter region. The proximal promoter region is very G+C-rich and does not contain a canonical TATA box or a CAAT box. Transient expression assays with a set of human PC2 gene fragments containing progressive 5' deletions demonstrate that the proximal promoter region is capable of directing high levels of neuroendocrine-specific expression of reporter gene constructs. In addition, we show that the transcription factor EGR-1 interacts with two distinct elements within the proximal human PC2 promoter region. Transfection experiments also demonstrate that EGR-1 is able to enhance PC2 promoter activity.
激素原转化酶参与分泌途径中激素原和神经肽前体的组织特异性内切蛋白水解加工。在本研究中，我们分离出了包含人激素原转化酶2（PC2）基因5′末端区域的基因组克隆，并确定了PC2启动子区域的特征。近端启动子区域富含G+C，不包含典型的TATA盒或CAAT盒。用一组包含渐进性5′缺失的人PC2基因片段进行的瞬时表达分析表明，近端启动子区域能够指导报告基因构建体的高水平神经内分泌特异性表达。此外，我们表明转录因子EGR-1与人PC2近端启动子区域内的两个不同元件相互作用。转染实验还表明，EGR-1能够增强PC2启动子活性。
