Multiple potential intragenic regulatory elements in the CFTR gene

The CFTR gene exhibits a complex pattern of expression that shows temporal and spatial regulation though the control mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. We have mapped DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) flanking the CFTR gene to identify potential regulatory elements. We previously characterized DHS at -79.5 and -20.9 kb with respect to the CFTR translational start site, DHS 3' to the gene at 4574 + 5.4-7.4 and 4574 + 15.6 kb, and a regulatory element in the first intron of the gene at 185 + 10 kb. We generated a cosmid contig to provide probes to evaluate the whole of the CFTR gene for DHS and have now mapped novel sites in introns 2, 3, 10, 16, 17a, 18, 20, and 21. These DHS show different patterns of cell-specific expression.