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. 1993 Apr 1;90(7):3043–3047. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.7.3043

An 83-nucleotide promoter of the acetylcholine receptor epsilon-subunit gene confers preferential synaptic expression in mouse muscle.

A Duclert 1, N Savatier 1, J P Changeux 1
PMCID: PMC46233  PMID: 8464921

Abstract

The expression of the acetylcholine receptor epsilon-subunit gene is restricted to the endplate of adult muscle fibers. We have started to study the regulatory elements of the epsilon-subunit gene promoter that are important for its synaptic expression. We used, for this purpose, a rapid method of in vivo expression after DNA injection into the muscle tissue [Wolff, J. A., Malone, R. W., Williams, P., Chong, W., Acsadi, G., Jani, A. & Felgner, P. L. (1990) Science 247, 1465-1468]. Our results show that a construction containing 83 nucleotides upstream from the transcription start site is sufficient to obtain preferential endplate expression. Moreover, mutation of a MyoD binding site located around position-70 does not alter this synaptic expression. We also studied the expression of this promoter in vitro in muscle primary cultures and showed the presence of a positive element between positions -122 and -83. Comparison of in vivo and in vitro results reveals that the elements important for in vivo localization at the synapse and in vitro expression in cultured muscle cells may differ.

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Selected References

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