Stra 8基因的激活与精原干细胞的特异性分化研究

视黄酸对维持正常的雄性睾丸结构和功能起着重要的作用。近来的研究发现,在雄性生殖腺发育过程中有一组基因,它们可以被视黄酸特异性的诱导活化,称为Stra(Stimulated by Retinoic Acid)基因。从鼠源分离得到的Stra8基因编码一种细胞质蛋白,该基因只特异性的在成熟雄性生殖细胞中表达,其功能被认为与精子形成有关。为研究Stra8基因的表达特性,我们从小鼠的基因组中克隆了Stra8基因的启动子序列(1.4kb)。将Stra8基因的1.4kb启动子序列克隆到pEGFP-1载体的EGFP基因之前,构建成由Stra8基因1.4kb启动子序列调控表达绿色荧光蛋白的pStra8-EGFP载体。将其分别转化到不同类型的细胞中,如小鼠ES-129细胞、人胎儿胰腺干细胞、小鼠骨髓间充质干细胞和小鼠精原干细胞等,通过荧光显微镜观察发现,绿色荧光蛋白只在小鼠精原干细胞中表达,表明Stra8基因是组织特异性表达的基因。将pStra8-EGFP转化小鼠骨髓间充质干细胞,经G418筛选2周后,用视黄酸诱导,12h培养后,有一部分转化pStra8-EGFP载体的细胞表达绿色荧光蛋白。RT-PCR证明这些细胞中有精原干细胞特异表达基因Stra8的转录,还有生殖细胞特异表达基因CyclinA8和Oct4的转录,这些结果说明小鼠骨髓间充质细胞经视黄酸的诱导可以向生殖细胞方向分化。     

T-box binding protein type two (TBX2) is an immediate early gene target in retinoic-acid-treated B16 murine melanoma cells

Retinoic acid induces growth arrest and differentiation in B16 mouse melanoma cells. Using gene arrays, we identified several early response genes whose expression is altered by retinoic acid. One of the genes, tbx2, is a member of T-box nuclear binding proteins that are important morphogens in developing embryos. Increased TBX2 mRNA is seen within 2 h after addition of retinoic acid to B16 cells. The effect of retinoic acid on gene expression is direct since it does not require any new protein synthesis. We identified a degenerate retinoic acid response element (RARE) between -186 and -163 in the promoter region of the tbx2 gene. A synthetic oligonucleotide spanning this region was able to drive increased expression of a luciferase reporter gene in response to retinoic acid; however, this induction was lost when a point mutation was introduced into the RARE. This oligonucleotide also specifically bound RAR in nuclear extracts from B16 cells. TBX2 expression and its induction by retinoic acid was also observed in normal human and nonmalignant mouse melanocytes.     

Structural and functional characterizations of the 5'-flanking region of the mouse glucagon receptor gene: comparison with the rat gene

A putative proximal promoter was defined previously for the mouse glucagon receptor (GR) gene. In the present study, a distal promoter was characterized upstream from a novel non-coding exon revealed by the 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends from mouse liver tissue. The 5'-flanking region of the mouse GR gene was cloned up to 6 kb and the structural organization was compared to the 5' untranslated region of the rat gene cloned up to 7 kb. The novel exon, separated by an intron of 3.8 kb from the first coding exon, displayed a high homology (80%) with the most distal of the two untranslated exons found in the 5' region of the rat GR gene. The mouse distal promoter region, extending up to -1 kb from the novel exon, displayed 85% identity with the rat promoter. Both contain a highly GC-rich sequence with five putative binding sites for Sp1, but no consensus TATA or CAAT elements. To evaluate basal promoter activities, 5'-flanking sequences of mouse or rat GR genes were fused to a luciferase reporter gene and transiently expressed in a mouse and in a rat cell line, respectively or in rat hepatocytes. Both mouse and rat distal promoter regions directed a high level of reporter gene activity. Deletion of the Sp1 binding sites region or mutation of the second proximal Sp1 sequence markedly reduced the distal promoter activity of the reporter gene. The mouse proximal promoter activity was 2- to 3-fold less than the distal promoter, for which no functional counterpart was observed in the similar region of the rat gene.     

Genomic structure and promoter analysis of the mouse neutral ceramidase gene

We report here the molecular cloning of the mouse neutral ceramidase gene and its promoter analysis. The gene, composed of 27 exons ranging in size from 40 to 292 bp, spans more than 70 kb. Analysis of the 5(')-flanking region of the ceramidase genes revealed that the first exon of the gene of mouse liver was exactly the same as that of mouse kidney and Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts but completely different from that of mouse brain. The putative promoter regions of liver and brain ceramidase genes contained several well-characterized promoter elements such as GATA-2, C/EBP, and HNF3beta but lacked TATA and CAAT boxes, a typical feature of a housekeeping gene, although the expression is regulated in a tissue-specific manner. Interestingly, a GC box was exclusively found in the putative promoter of mouse liver whereas potential AP1 and AP4 binding sites were present in that of mouse brain. By a luciferase reporter gene assay, it was shown that the GC-rich region, which exists just upstream of the first exon, conferred the promoter activity in Swiss 3T3 cells.     

Retinoic acid activation and thyroid hormone repression of the human alcohol dehydrogenase gene ADH3.

Mammalian alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) catalyzes the oxidation of retinol to retinaldehyde, the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of retinoic acid. There exists a family of ADH isozymes encoded by unique genes, and it is unclear which isozymes are most important for regulation of retinoic acid synthesis during differentiation or development. A region in the human ADH3 promoter from -328 to -272 base pairs was shown previously to function as a retinoic acid response element (RARE), prompting an hypothesis for a positive feedback mechanism controlling retinoic acid synthesis (Duester, G., Shean, M. L., McBride, M. S., and Stewart, M. J. (1991) Mol. Cell. Biol. 11, 1638-1646). The ADH3 RARE contains three direct AGGTCA repeats which constitute the critical nucleotides of RAREs present in other genes. We dissected the ADH3 RARE and determined that receptor binding as well as transactivation are dependent upon only the two downstream AGGTCA motifs separated by 5 base pairs, a structure noticed previously for a RARE in the promoter for the retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR beta) gene. ADH3 and RAR beta RAREs functioned similarly in transfection assays, suggesting that the feedback mechanisms controlling ADH3 and RAR beta utilize a common RARE. We also found that the normal functioning of the ADH3 RARE was abrogated by thyroid hormone receptor in the presence of thyroid hormone. A negative thyroid hormone response element in the human ADH3 promoter was found to colocalize with the RARE. Since ADH production in rat liver is known to be repressed by thyroid hormone, these findings suggest that human ADH production may also be subject to thyroid hormone repression and that the mechanism involves an interference with retinoic acid induction.     

Retinoic acid response element in the human alcohol dehydrogenase gene ADH3: implications for regulation of retinoic acid synthesis.

Retinoic acid regulation of one member of the human class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene family was demonstrated, suggesting that the retinol dehydrogenase function of ADH may play a regulatory role in the biosynthetic pathway for retinoic acid. Promoter activity of human ADH3, but not ADH1 or ADH2, was shown to be activated by retinoic acid in transient transfection assays of Hep3B human hepatoma cells. Deletion mapping experiments identified a region in the ADH3 promoter located between -328 and -272 bp which confers retinoic acid activation. This region was also demonstrated to confer retinoic acid responsiveness on the ADH1 and ADH2 genes in heterologous promoter fusions. Within a 34-bp stretch, the ADH3 retinoic acid response element (RARE) contains two TGACC motifs and one TGAAC motif, both of which exist in RAREs controlling other genes. A block mutation of the TGACC sequence located at -289 to -285 bp eliminated the retinoic acid response. As assayed by gel shift DNA binding studies, the RARE region (-328 to -272 bp) of ADH3 bound the human retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR beta) and was competed for by DNA containing a RARE present in the gene encoding RAR beta. Since ADH catalyzes the conversion of retinol to retinal, which can be further converted to retinoic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase, these results suggest that retinoic acid activation of ADH3 constitutes a positive feedback loop regulating retinoic acid synthesis.