Transcriptional promiscuity of the human /alpha/-globin gene

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Mol. Cell. Biol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.9.1.241· OSTI ID:5821700

Whitelaw, E; Hogben, P; Hanscombe, O; Proudfoot, N J

The human /alpha/-globin gene displays the unusual property of transcriptional promiscuity: that is, it functions in the absence of an enhancer when transfected into nonerythroid cell lines. It is also unusual in that its promoter region lies in a hypomethylated HpaII tiny fragment (HTF) island containing multiple copies of the consensus sequence for the SP1-binding site. The authors have investigated whether there is a relationship between these two observations. First, they investigated the mouse /alpha/-globin gene since it does not lie in an HTF island. They have demonstrated that it was not transcriptionally promiscuous. Second, they studied the transcriptional activity of the human /alpha/-globin gene in the absence of the GC-rich region containing putative SP1-binding sites and found a small (two- to threefold) but consistent positive effect of this region on transcriptional activity in both nonerythroid and erythroid cell lines. However, this effect did not account for the promiscuous nature of the human /alpha/-globin gene. They found that in a nonreplicating system, the human //a/-globin gene, like that of the mouse, required a simian virus 40 enhancer in order to be transcriptionally active in nonerythroid and erythroid cell lines. Since they only observed enhancer independence of the human /alpha/-globin gene in a high-copy-number replicating system, they suggest that competition for trans-acting factors could explain these results. Finally, the authors' experiments with the erythroid cell line Putko suggest that there are no tissue-specific enhancers within 1 kilobase 5' of the human /alpha/-globin cap site or within the gene itself.

• Research Organization: Oxford Univ. (UK)
• OSTI ID: 5821700
• Journal Information: Mol. Cell. Biol.; (United States), Journal Name: Mol. Cell. Biol.; (United States) Vol. 9:1; ISSN MCEBD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550200 -- Biochemistry
550400* -- Genetics
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY FLUIDS
CELL CULTURES
GENE REPRESSORS
GENES
GENETIC MAPPING
GLOBIN
MAMMALS
MAPPING
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEOPROTEINS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PARASITES
PROTEINS
RATS
RODENTS
SIMIAN VIRUS
TRANSCRIPTION
VERTEBRATES
VIRUSES