Skip to main content
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1992 Jan 11;20(1):63–68. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.1.63

The expression of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is regulated by two GC-elements in the promoter.

P Pollwein 1, C L Masters 1, K Beyreuther 1
PMCID: PMC310326  PMID: 1738605

Abstract

The structure of the promoter of the human APP gene resembles that of housekeeping genes, with the presence of a GC-rich region and the lack of a canonical TATA box. Since analysis of the expression of the APP gene, especially at the transcriptional level, might reveal factors or elements, which influence amyloid formation in Alzheimer's disease, a 5' deletion analysis of the APP promoter was performed, leading to the identification of an activating DNA fragment (Ac), acting also on a heterologous promoter. DNaseI-footprint analysis revealed three protected regions on the Ac fragment. Further gene transfer experiments showed, that at least two elements, designated A and C, confer transcriptional activity in HeLa cells. Whereas the proximal element A is a 19bp long GC-rich DNA sequence, the distal element C is a GC-palindrome with the sequence 5'GCGGCGCCGC.

Full text

PDF
63

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bohmann D., Bos T. J., Admon A., Nishimura T., Vogt P. K., Tjian R. Human proto-oncogene c-jun encodes a DNA binding protein with structural and functional properties of transcription factor AP-1. Science. 1987 Dec 4;238(4832):1386–1392. doi: 10.1126/science.2825349. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buxbaum J. D., Gandy S. E., Cicchetti P., Ehrlich M. E., Czernik A. J., Fracasso R. P., Ramabhadran T. V., Unterbeck A. J., Greengard P. Processing of Alzheimer beta/A4 amyloid precursor protein: modulation by agents that regulate protein phosphorylation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(15):6003–6006. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.15.6003. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Christy B., Nathans D. DNA binding site of the growth factor-inducible protein Zif268. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Nov;86(22):8737–8741. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.22.8737. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Crosby S. D., Puetz J. J., Simburger K. S., Fahrner T. J., Milbrandt J. The early response gene NGFI-C encodes a zinc finger transcriptional activator and is a member of the GCGGGGGCG (GSG) element-binding protein family. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Aug;11(8):3835–3841. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.8.3835. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dignam J. D., Lebovitz R. M., Roeder R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Mar 11;11(5):1475–1489. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.5.1475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Galas D. J., Schmitz A. DNAse footprinting: a simple method for the detection of protein-DNA binding specificity. Nucleic Acids Res. 1978 Sep;5(9):3157–3170. doi: 10.1093/nar/5.9.3157. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Glenner G. G., Wong C. W. Alzheimer's disease: initial report of the purification and characterization of a novel cerebrovascular amyloid protein. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1984 May 16;120(3):885–890. doi: 10.1016/s0006-291x(84)80190-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goate A., Chartier-Harlin M. C., Mullan M., Brown J., Crawford F., Fidani L., Giuffra L., Haynes A., Irving N., James L. Segregation of a missense mutation in the amyloid precursor protein gene with familial Alzheimer's disease. Nature. 1991 Feb 21;349(6311):704–706. doi: 10.1038/349704a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Golde T. E., Estus S., Usiak M., Younkin L. H., Younkin S. G. Expression of beta amyloid protein precursor mRNAs: recognition of a novel alternatively spliced form and quantitation in Alzheimer's disease using PCR. Neuron. 1990 Feb;4(2):253–267. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(90)90100-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Goldgaber D., Harris H. W., Hla T., Maciag T., Donnelly R. J., Jacobsen J. S., Vitek M. P., Gajdusek D. C. Interleukin 1 regulates synthesis of amyloid beta-protein precursor mRNA in human endothelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Oct;86(19):7606–7610. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.19.7606. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Goldgaber D., Lerman M. I., McBride O. W., Saffiotti U., Gajdusek D. C. Characterization and chromosomal localization of a cDNA encoding brain amyloid of Alzheimer's disease. Science. 1987 Feb 20;235(4791):877–880. doi: 10.1126/science.3810169. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hall C. V., Jacob P. E., Ringold G. M., Lee F. Expression and regulation of Escherichia coli lacZ gene fusions in mammalian cells. J Mol Appl Genet. 1983;2(1):101–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hazel T. G., Misra R., Davis I. J., Greenberg M. E., Lau L. F. Nur77 is differentially modified in PC12 cells upon membrane depolarization and growth factor treatment. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jun;11(6):3239–3246. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.6.3239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Henikoff S. Unidirectional digestion with exonuclease III creates targeted breakpoints for DNA sequencing. Gene. 1984 Jun;28(3):351–359. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(84)90153-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Höller M., Westin G., Jiricny J., Schaffner W. Sp1 transcription factor binds DNA and activates transcription even when the binding site is CpG methylated. Genes Dev. 1988 Sep;2(9):1127–1135. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.9.1127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Iguchi-Ariga S. M., Schaffner W. CpG methylation of the cAMP-responsive enhancer/promoter sequence TGACGTCA abolishes specific factor binding as well as transcriptional activation. Genes Dev. 1989 May;3(5):612–619. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.5.612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Johnson P. F., McKnight S. L. Eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins. Annu Rev Biochem. 1989;58:799–839. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.58.070189.004055. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kadonaga J. T., Tjian R. Affinity purification of sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Aug;83(16):5889–5893. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.16.5889. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kang J., Lemaire H. G., Unterbeck A., Salbaum J. M., Masters C. L., Grzeschik K. H., Multhaup G., Beyreuther K., Müller-Hill B. The precursor of Alzheimer's disease amyloid A4 protein resembles a cell-surface receptor. Nature. 1987 Feb 19;325(6106):733–736. doi: 10.1038/325733a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kitaguchi N., Takahashi Y., Tokushima Y., Shiojiri S., Ito H. Novel precursor of Alzheimer's disease amyloid protein shows protease inhibitory activity. Nature. 1988 Feb 11;331(6156):530–532. doi: 10.1038/331530a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. König G., Masters C. L., Beyreuther K. Retinoic acid induced differentiated neuroblastoma cells show increased expression of the beta A4 amyloid gene of Alzheimer's disease and an altered splicing pattern. FEBS Lett. 1990 Sep 3;269(2):305–310. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(90)81181-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Lahiri D. K., Robakis N. K. The promoter activity of the gene encoding Alzheimer beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) is regulated by two blocks of upstream sequences. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 1991 Feb;9(3):253–257. doi: 10.1016/0169-328x(91)90009-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Lee K. A., Bindereif A., Green M. R. A small-scale procedure for preparation of nuclear extracts that support efficient transcription and pre-mRNA splicing. Gene Anal Tech. 1988 Mar-Apr;5(2):22–31. doi: 10.1016/0735-0651(88)90023-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lee W., Mitchell P., Tjian R. Purified transcription factor AP-1 interacts with TPA-inducible enhancer elements. Cell. 1987 Jun 19;49(6):741–752. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90612-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Masters C. L., Simms G., Weinman N. A., Multhaup G., McDonald B. L., Beyreuther K. Amyloid plaque core protein in Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jun;82(12):4245–4249. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.12.4245. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. McKnight S., Tjian R. Transcriptional selectivity of viral genes in mammalian cells. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):795–805. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90061-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Milbrandt J. Nerve growth factor induces a gene homologous to the glucocorticoid receptor gene. Neuron. 1988 May;1(3):183–188. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(88)90138-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Mobley W. C., Neve R. L., Prusiner S. B., McKinley M. P. Nerve growth factor increases mRNA levels for the prion protein and the beta-amyloid protein precursor in developing hamster brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Dec;85(24):9811–9815. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.24.9811. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Mönning U., König G., Prior R., Mechler H., Schreiter-Gasser U., Masters C. L., Beyreuther K. Synthesis and secretion of Alzheimer amyloid beta A4 precursor protein by stimulated human peripheral blood leucocytes. FEBS Lett. 1990 Dec 17;277(1-2):261–266. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(90)80861-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Müller-Hill B., Beyreuther K. Molecular biology of Alzheimer's disease. Annu Rev Biochem. 1989;58:287–307. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.58.070189.001443. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Neve R. L., Rogers J., Higgins G. A. The Alzheimer amyloid precursor-related transcript lacking the beta/A4 sequence is specifically increased in Alzheimer's disease brain. Neuron. 1990 Sep;5(3):329–338. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(90)90169-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Oltersdorf T., Fritz L. C., Schenk D. B., Lieberburg I., Johnson-Wood K. L., Beattie E. C., Ward P. J., Blacher R. W., Dovey H. F., Sinha S. The secreted form of the Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein with the Kunitz domain is protease nexin-II. Nature. 1989 Sep 14;341(6238):144–147. doi: 10.1038/341144a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Ponte P., Gonzalez-DeWhitt P., Schilling J., Miller J., Hsu D., Greenberg B., Davis K., Wallace W., Lieberburg I., Fuller F. A new A4 amyloid mRNA contains a domain homologous to serine proteinase inhibitors. Nature. 1988 Feb 11;331(6156):525–527. doi: 10.1038/331525a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Pugh B. F., Tjian R. Mechanism of transcriptional activation by Sp1: evidence for coactivators. Cell. 1990 Jun 29;61(7):1187–1197. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90683-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Quon D., Catalano R., Cordell B. Fibroblast growth factor induces beta-amyloid precursor mRNA in glial but not neuronal cultured cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1990 Feb 28;167(1):96–102. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(90)91735-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Quon D., Wang Y., Catalano R., Scardina J. M., Murakami K., Cordell B. Formation of beta-amyloid protein deposits in brains of transgenic mice. Nature. 1991 Jul 18;352(6332):239–241. doi: 10.1038/352239a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Rumble B., Retallack R., Hilbich C., Simms G., Multhaup G., Martins R., Hockey A., Montgomery P., Beyreuther K., Masters C. L. Amyloid A4 protein and its precursor in Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med. 1989 Jun 1;320(22):1446–1452. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198906013202203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Salbaum J. M., Weidemann A., Lemaire H. G., Masters C. L., Beyreuther K. The promoter of Alzheimer's disease amyloid A4 precursor gene. EMBO J. 1988 Sep;7(9):2807–2813. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03136.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Scott J. N., Parhad I. M., Clark A. W. Beta-amyloid precursor protein gene is differentially expressed in axotomized sensory and motor systems. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 1991 Jul;10(4):315–325. doi: 10.1016/0169-328x(91)90090-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Selkoe D. J. Biochemistry of altered brain proteins in Alzheimer's disease. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1989;12:463–490. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.12.030189.002335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Sheng M., Greenberg M. E. The regulation and function of c-fos and other immediate early genes in the nervous system. Neuron. 1990 Apr;4(4):477–485. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(90)90106-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Sisodia S. S., Koo E. H., Beyreuther K., Unterbeck A., Price D. L. Evidence that beta-amyloid protein in Alzheimer's disease is not derived by normal processing. Science. 1990 Apr 27;248(4954):492–495. doi: 10.1126/science.1691865. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Sukhatme V. P., Cao X. M., Chang L. C., Tsai-Morris C. H., Stamenkovich D., Ferreira P. C., Cohen D. R., Edwards S. A., Shows T. B., Curran T. A zinc finger-encoding gene coregulated with c-fos during growth and differentiation, and after cellular depolarization. Cell. 1988 Apr 8;53(1):37–43. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90485-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Tanzi R. E., Gusella J. F., Watkins P. C., Bruns G. A., St George-Hyslop P., Van Keuren M. L., Patterson D., Pagan S., Kurnit D. M., Neve R. L. Amyloid beta protein gene: cDNA, mRNA distribution, and genetic linkage near the Alzheimer locus. Science. 1987 Feb 20;235(4791):880–884. doi: 10.1126/science.2949367. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Tanzi R. E., McClatchey A. I., Lamperti E. D., Villa-Komaroff L., Gusella J. F., Neve R. L. Protease inhibitor domain encoded by an amyloid protein precursor mRNA associated with Alzheimer's disease. Nature. 1988 Feb 11;331(6156):528–530. doi: 10.1038/331528a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Tazi J., Bird A. Alternative chromatin structure at CpG islands. Cell. 1990 Mar 23;60(6):909–920. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90339-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Van Nostrand W. E., Wagner S. L., Suzuki M., Choi B. H., Farrow J. S., Geddes J. W., Cotman C. W., Cunningham D. D. Protease nexin-II, a potent antichymotrypsin, shows identity to amyloid beta-protein precursor. Nature. 1989 Oct 12;341(6242):546–549. doi: 10.1038/341546a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Watt F., Molloy P. L. Cytosine methylation prevents binding to DNA of a HeLa cell transcription factor required for optimal expression of the adenovirus major late promoter. Genes Dev. 1988 Sep;2(9):1136–1143. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.9.1136. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Weidemann A., König G., Bunke D., Fischer P., Salbaum J. M., Masters C. L., Beyreuther K. Identification, biogenesis, and localization of precursors of Alzheimer's disease A4 amyloid protein. Cell. 1989 Apr 7;57(1):115–126. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90177-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Williams T. M., Burlein J. E., Ogden S., Kricka L. J., Kant J. A. Advantages of firefly luciferase as a reporter gene: application to the interleukin-2 gene promoter. Anal Biochem. 1989 Jan;176(1):28–32. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(89)90267-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Wirak D. O., Bayney R., Kundel C. A., Lee A., Scangos G. A., Trapp B. D., Unterbeck A. J. Regulatory region of human amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene promotes neuron-specific gene expression in the CNS of transgenic mice. EMBO J. 1991 Feb;10(2):289–296. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb07949.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Yoshikai S., Sasaki H., Doh-ura K., Furuya H., Sakaki Y. Genomic organization of the human amyloid beta-protein precursor gene. Gene. 1990 Mar 15;87(2):257–263. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(90)90310-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. de Sauvage F., Octave J. N. A novel mRNA of the A4 amyloid precursor gene coding for a possibly secreted protein. Science. 1989 Aug 11;245(4918):651–653. doi: 10.1126/science.2569763. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. de Wet J. R., Wood K. V., DeLuca M., Helinski D. R., Subramani S. Firefly luciferase gene: structure and expression in mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Feb;7(2):725–737. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.2.725. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. van der Eb A. J., Graham F. L. Assay of transforming activity of tumor virus DNA. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):826–839. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65077-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES