Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1991 Apr;11(4):2216–2228. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.4.2216

The functional domains of the murine Thy-1 gene promoter.

E Spanopoulou 1, V Giguere 1, F Grosveld 1
PMCID: PMC359917  PMID: 1672442

Abstract

The Thy-1 gene promoter resembles a "housekeeping" promoter in that it is located within a methylation-free island, lacks a canonical TATA box, and displays heterogeneity in the 5'-end termini of the mRNA. Using transgenic mice, we show that this promoter does not confer any tissue specificity and is active only in a position-dependent manner. It can only be activated in a tissue-specific manner by elements that lie downstream of the initiation site. We have analyzed the functional domains of the minimal Thy-1 promoter and show that the dominant promoter elements consist of multiple binding sites for the transcription factor Sp1, an inverted CCAAT box, and sequences proximal to the transcription start site. DNase I and gel mobility shift assays show the binding of a number of nuclear factors to these elements, including Sp1 and CP1. Our results show that the structure of this promoter only permits productive interactions of the two transcription factors Sp1 and CP1 with the basal transcription machinery in the presence of enhancer sequences.

Full text

PDF
2224

Images in this article

2218Image
on p.2218
2220Image
on p.2220
2221Image
on p.2221
2222Image
on p.2222
2223Image
on p.2223
2224Image
on p.2224
2225Image
on p.2225

Selected References

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

  1. Aronow B., Lattier D., Silbiger R., Dusing M., Hutton J., Jones G., Stock J., McNeish J., Potter S., Witte D. Evidence for a complex regulatory array in the first intron of the human adenosine deaminase gene. Genes Dev. 1989 Sep;3(9):1384–1400. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.9.1384. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baniahmad A., Muller M., Steiner C., Renkawitz R. Activity of two different silencer elements of the chicken lysozyme gene can be compensated by enhancer elements. EMBO J. 1987 Aug;6(8):2297–2303. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02504.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Basler K., Siegrist P., Hafen E. The spatial and temporal expression pattern of sevenless is exclusively controlled by gene-internal elements. EMBO J. 1989 Aug;8(8):2381–2386. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08367.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bird A. P. CpG-rich islands and the function of DNA methylation. Nature. 1986 May 15;321(6067):209–213. doi: 10.1038/321209a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Briggs M. R., Kadonaga J. T., Bell S. P., Tjian R. Purification and biochemical characterization of the promoter-specific transcription factor, Sp1. Science. 1986 Oct 3;234(4772):47–52. doi: 10.1126/science.3529394. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cao S. X., Gutman P. D., Dave H. P., Schechter A. N. Identification of a transcriptional silencer in the 5'-flanking region of the human epsilon-globin gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Jul;86(14):5306–5309. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.14.5306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chen S., Botteri F., van der Putten H., Landel C. P., Evans G. A. A lymphoproliferative abnormality associated with inappropriate expression of the Thy-1 antigen in transgenic mice. Cell. 1987 Oct 9;51(1):7–19. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90005-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chodosh L. A., Baldwin A. S., Carthew R. W., Sharp P. A. Human CCAAT-binding proteins have heterologous subunits. Cell. 1988 Apr 8;53(1):11–24. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90483-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Clevers H., Lonberg N., Dunlap S., Lacy E., Terhorst C. An enhancer located in a CpG-island 3' to the TCR/CD3-epsilon gene confers T lymphocyte-specificity to its promoter. EMBO J. 1989 Sep;8(9):2527–2535. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08390.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Courey A. J., Holtzman D. A., Jackson S. P., Tjian R. Synergistic activation by the glutamine-rich domains of human transcription factor Sp1. Cell. 1989 Dec 1;59(5):827–836. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90606-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Courey A. J., Tjian R. Analysis of Sp1 in vivo reveals multiple transcriptional domains, including a novel glutamine-rich activation motif. Cell. 1988 Dec 2;55(5):887–898. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90144-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Dailey L., Hanly S. M., Roeder R. G., Heintz N. Distinct transcription factors bind specifically to two regions of the human histone H4 promoter. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Oct;83(19):7241–7245. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Dailey L., Roberts S. B., Heintz N. Purification of the human histone H4 gene-specific transcription factors H4TF-1 and H4TF-2. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12B):1700–1712. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12b.1700. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Dawson P. A., Hofmann S. L., van der Westhuyzen D. R., Südhof T. C., Brown M. S., Goldstein J. L. Sterol-dependent repression of low density lipoprotein receptor promoter mediated by 16-base pair sequence adjacent to binding site for transcription factor Sp1. J Biol Chem. 1988 Mar 5;263(7):3372–3379. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. 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]
  16. Dorn A., Bollekens J., Staub A., Benoist C., Mathis D. A multiplicity of CCAAT box-binding proteins. Cell. 1987 Sep 11;50(6):863–872. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90513-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gardiner-Garden M., Frommer M. CpG islands in vertebrate genomes. J Mol Biol. 1987 Jul 20;196(2):261–282. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90689-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Georgopoulos K., van den Elsen P., Bier E., Maxam A., Terhorst C. A T cell-specific enhancer is located in a DNase I-hypersensitive area at the 3' end of the CD3-delta gene. EMBO J. 1988 Aug;7(8):2401–2407. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03085.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Gidoni D., Dynan W. S., Tjian R. Multiple specific contacts between a mammalian transcription factor and its cognate promoters. 1984 Nov 29-Dec 5Nature. 312(5993):409–413. doi: 10.1038/312409a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Gidoni D., Kadonaga J. T., Barrera-Saldaña H., Takahashi K., Chambon P., Tjian R. Bidirectional SV40 transcription mediated by tandem Sp1 binding interactions. Science. 1985 Nov 1;230(4725):511–517. doi: 10.1126/science.2996137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Giguére V., Isobe K., Grosveld F. Structure of the murine Thy-1 gene. EMBO J. 1985 Aug;4(8):2017–2024. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03886.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Gorski K., Carneiro M., Schibler U. Tissue-specific in vitro transcription from the mouse albumin promoter. Cell. 1986 Dec 5;47(5):767–776. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90519-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Graves B. J., Johnson P. F., McKnight S. L. Homologous recognition of a promoter domain common to the MSV LTR and the HSV tk gene. Cell. 1986 Feb 28;44(4):565–576. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90266-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Green M. R., Treisman R., Maniatis T. Transcriptional activation of cloned human beta-globin genes by viral immediate-early gene products. Cell. 1983 Nov;35(1):137–148. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90216-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Gustafson T. A., Kedes L. Identification of multiple proteins that interact with functional regions of the human cardiac alpha-actin promoter. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Aug;9(8):3269–3283. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.8.3269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Harrington M. A., Jones P. A., Imagawa M., Karin M. Cytosine methylation does not affect binding of transcription factor Sp1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Apr;85(7):2066–2070. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.7.2066. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Huang H. C., Sundseth R., Hansen U. Transcription factor LSF binds two variant bipartite sites within the SV40 late promoter. Genes Dev. 1990 Feb;4(2):287–298. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.2.287. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. 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]
  29. Imagawa M., Chiu R., Karin M. Transcription factor AP-2 mediates induction by two different signal-transduction pathways: protein kinase C and cAMP. Cell. 1987 Oct 23;51(2):251–260. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90152-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Ingraham H. A., Evans G. A. Characterization of two atypical promoters and alternate mRNA processing in the mouse Thy-1.2 glycoprotein gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Aug;6(8):2923–2931. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.8.2923. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Jackson S. P., Tjian R. O-glycosylation of eukaryotic transcription factors: implications for mechanisms of transcriptional regulation. Cell. 1988 Oct 7;55(1):125–133. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90015-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Johnson P. F., Landschulz W. H., Graves B. J., McKnight S. L. Identification of a rat liver nuclear protein that binds to the enhancer core element of three animal viruses. Genes Dev. 1987 Apr;1(2):133–146. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.2.133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. 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]
  34. Jones K. A., Kadonaga J. T., Rosenfeld P. J., Kelly T. J., Tjian R. A cellular DNA-binding protein that activates eukaryotic transcription and DNA replication. Cell. 1987 Jan 16;48(1):79–89. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90358-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Jones K. A., Yamamoto K. R., Tjian R. Two distinct transcription factors bind to the HSV thymidine kinase promoter in vitro. Cell. 1985 Sep;42(2):559–572. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90113-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Kadonaga J. T., Courey A. J., Ladika J., Tjian R. Distinct regions of Sp1 modulate DNA binding and transcriptional activation. Science. 1988 Dec 16;242(4885):1566–1570. doi: 10.1126/science.3059495. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Kageyama R., Merlino G. T., Pastan I. A transcription factor active on the epidermal growth factor receptor gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Jul;85(14):5016–5020. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.14.5016. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Kageyama R., Pastan I. Molecular cloning and characterization of a human DNA binding factor that represses transcription. Cell. 1989 Dec 1;59(5):815–825. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90605-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Kollias G., Spanopoulou E., Grosveld F., Ritter M., Beech J., Morris R. Differential regulation of a Thy-1 gene in transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Mar;84(6):1492–1496. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.6.1492. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Kolsto A. B., Kollias G., Giguere V., Isobe K. I., Prydz H., Grosveld F. The maintenance of methylation-free islands in transgenic mice. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Dec 22;14(24):9667–9678. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Letovsky J., Dynan W. S. Measurement of the binding of transcription factor Sp1 to a single GC box recognition sequence. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Apr 11;17(7):2639–2653. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.7.2639. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Low M. G., Kincade P. W. Phosphatidylinositol is the membrane-anchoring domain of the Thy-1 glycoprotein. Nature. 1985 Nov 7;318(6041):62–64. doi: 10.1038/318062a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. 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]
  44. McKnight S. L., Kingsbury R. C., Spence A., Smith M. The distal transcription signals of the herpesvirus tk gene share a common hexanucleotide control sequence. Cell. 1984 May;37(1):253–262. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90321-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. McKnight S. L., Kingsbury R. Transcriptional control signals of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene. Science. 1982 Jul 23;217(4557):316–324. doi: 10.1126/science.6283634. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. 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]
  47. Mermod N., Williams T. J., Tjian R. Enhancer binding factors AP-4 and AP-1 act in concert to activate SV40 late transcription in vitro. Nature. 1988 Apr 7;332(6164):557–561. doi: 10.1038/332557a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Mitchell P. J., Wang C., Tjian R. Positive and negative regulation of transcription in vitro: enhancer-binding protein AP-2 is inhibited by SV40 T antigen. Cell. 1987 Sep 11;50(6):847–861. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90512-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Morris R., Grosveld F. Expression of Thy-1 in the nervous system of the rat and mouse. Immunol Ser. 1989;45:121–148. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Morris R. Thy-1 in developing nervous tissue. Dev Neurosci. 1985;7(3):133–160. doi: 10.1159/000112283. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Ptashne M. Gene regulation by proteins acting nearby and at a distance. Nature. 1986 Aug 21;322(6081):697–701. doi: 10.1038/322697a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. REIF A. E., ALLEN J. M. THE AKR THYMIC ANTIGEN AND ITS DISTRIBUTION IN LEUKEMIAS AND NERVOUS TISSUES. J Exp Med. 1964 Sep 1;120:413–433. doi: 10.1084/jem.120.3.413. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Saleh M., Bartlett P. F. Evidence from neuronal heterokaryons for a trans-acting factor suppressing Thy-1 expression during neuronal development. J Neurosci Res. 1989 Aug;23(4):406–415. doi: 10.1002/jnr.490230406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Santoro C., Mermod N., Andrews P. C., Tjian R. A family of human CCAAT-box-binding proteins active in transcription and DNA replication: cloning and expression of multiple cDNAs. Nature. 1988 Jul 21;334(6179):218–224. doi: 10.1038/334218a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Sneller M. C., Gunter K. C. DNA methylation alters chromatin structure and regulates Thy-1 expression in EL-4 T cells. J Immunol. 1987 May 15;138(10):3505–3512. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Spanopoulou E., Giguere V., Grosveld F. Transcriptional unit of the murine Thy-1 gene: different distribution of transcription initiation sites in brain. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Sep;8(9):3847–3856. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.9.3847. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Tanaka M., Grossniklaus U., Herr W., Hernandez N. Activation of the U2 snRNA promoter by the octamer motif defines a new class of RNA polymerase II enhancer elements. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12B):1764–1778. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12b.1764. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  58. 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]
  59. Thali M., Müller M. M., DeLorenzi M., Matthias P., Bienz M. Drosophila homoeotic genes encode transcriptional activators similar to mammalian OTF-2. Nature. 1988 Dec 8;336(6199):598–601. doi: 10.1038/336598a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  60. Tse A. G., Barclay A. N., Watts A., Williams A. F. A glycophospholipid tail at the carboxyl terminus of the Thy-1 glycoprotein of neurons and thymocytes. Science. 1985 Nov 29;230(4729):1003–1008. doi: 10.1126/science.2865810. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  61. Vidal M., Morris R., Grosveld F., Spanopoulou E. Tissue-specific control elements of the Thy-1 gene. EMBO J. 1990 Mar;9(3):833–840. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08180.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  62. Westin G., Schaffner W. A zinc-responsive factor interacts with a metal-regulated enhancer element (MRE) of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. EMBO J. 1988 Dec 1;7(12):3763–3770. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03260.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  63. Whitelaw E., Hogben P., Hanscombe O., Proudfoot N. J. Transcriptional promiscuity of the human alpha-globin gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Jan;9(1):241–251. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.1.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  64. Williams A. F., Gagnon J. Neuronal cell Thy-1 glycoprotein: homology with immunoglobulin. Science. 1982 May 14;216(4547):696–703. doi: 10.1126/science.6177036. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  65. Xiao J. H., Davidson I., Macchi M., Rosales R., Vigneron M., Staub A., Chambon P. In vitro binding of several cell-specific and ubiquitous nuclear proteins to the GT-I motif of the SV40 enhancer. Genes Dev. 1987 Oct;1(8):794–807. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.8.794. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  66. deBoer E., Antoniou M., Mignotte V., Wall L., Grosveld F. The human beta-globin promoter; nuclear protein factors and erythroid specific induction of transcription. EMBO J. 1988 Dec 20;7(13):4203–4212. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03317.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES