FIG. 1.

The distal GC box is required for acetaldehyde-induced αI(I) collagen gene transcription. Serum-starved HSC were transfected with 2 μg of one of the collagen CAT reporter plasmids [wild-type plasmid p1.7/1.6, p1.7/1.6(del. 516-786), which contains a deletion of a fragment containing a putative AP-1 binding motif in the first intron, or p1.7 (GC box mut.)/1.6, which contains a site-directed mutation in the distal GC box] as detailed in Materials and Methods. After transfection and recovery, cells were left untreated or treated with acetaldehyde for an additional 36 hr. CAT assays were performed as described in Materials and Methods. The transfection efficiency was normalized by β-galactosidase activity as described in Materials and Methods. Values presented here reflect the means ± standard deviations (n = 6). ∗, P < 0.05 compared with the control (No Acetal.).