Characterization of a proximal element in the rat preadipocyte factor-1 (Pref-1) gene promoter.

Preadipocyte factor-1 (Pref-1) was shown to negatively regulate adipocyte differentiation. We recently reported that ZOG, a rat homolog of Pref-1, was specifically expressed in the adrenal zona glomerulosa. Results of the investigation of Pref-1 expression in preadipocyte and in undifferentiated adrenal cortex suggested that down-regulation of Pref-1 gene was closely correlated with the differentiation process. In this study we demonstrate that an upstream region (from -76 to -47) of the rat Pref-1 gene was essential for its expression in adrenocortical carcinoma-derived H295R cells. A nucleotide sequence found in this region, GCGTGGGCGTGGGCGGGGG (Egr/GC-box), seemed to contain three elements, two early growth response (Egr) elements and one GC-box, overlapping each other. Mutations of four or five nucleotides in a 7-nucleotides-stretch in the midst of the Egr/GC-box eliminated the binding of Sp1/3, abolished the activation by Egr-factor(s) and diminished the Pref-1 promoter activity. When mutations were introduced into the outside of the middle portion, the binding of Sp1/3 to the Egr/GC-box was abolished similarly. However, the decrease in the promoter activity was less than that found with the construct mutated at the middle. These results indicated that an element present at the 7-nucleotides-stretch in the midst of the Egr/GC-box might be important for the Pref-1 promoter activity, and this proximal element was possibly activated by a still-unidentified nuclear factor(s). This element would function as the promoter of the Pref-1 gene in H295R cells, but not in HeLa cells.     

草菇基因组中11个漆酶同源基因的生物信息学分析及铜离子对其表达的影响

通过分析草菇基因组中11个漆酶同源基因所编码的蛋白的性质、转录调控元件和测定铜离子存在条件下的草菇漆酶活性及11个漆酶基因的转录水平,揭示了草菇漆酶基因的各自特性、差异以及基因功能与进化机制。分析表明,这11个漆酶同源基因编码的蛋白具有508–562aa个氨基酸,分子量和理论等电点分别为56.25–60.75kDa和4.51–6.18（未经翻译后修饰）,且都具有真菌漆酶铜离子结合区域的特征序列、4个能够结合催化底物的环形结构以及信号肽序列,都属于分泌性的胞外蛋白,但其底物结合位点数目、loop序列的一致性、跨膜区域数目和位置以及信号肽位置等存在较大差异。草菇11个漆酶起始密码子上游2 000bp的序列中含有真核生物的基本转录调控元件（TATA-box,CAAT-box及GC-box）和多个潜在的调控元件（MRE、XRE、STRE、HSE、ARE、TRE、NIT元件等）,但每个基因所含调控元件数目及种类各有不同。在液体培养条件下,铜离子能够诱导除vv-lac2、vv-lac3和vv-lac7之外的其余8个草菇漆酶基因的表达,且适宜浓度的铜离子有助于草菇漆酶活性的增加。