title: Structure and function of the murine beta-globin locus control region 5' HS-3.
abstract: We previously identified the murine homologue of the human beta-globin Locus Control Region (LCR) 5' HS-2. The lambda clone containing murine 5' HS-2 extends approximately 12 kb upstream from this site; here, we report the sequence of this entire upstream region. The murine homologue of 5' HS-3 is located approximately 16.0 kb upstream from the mouse epsilon y-globin gene, but no region homologous to human 5' HS-4 was present in our clone. Using a reporter system consisting of a human gamma-globin promoter driving the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (gamma-neo), we tested murine LCR fragments extending from -21 to -9 kb (with respect to the epsilon y-globin gene cap site) for activity in classical enhancer and integration site assays in K562 and MEL cells. 5' HS-2 behaved as a powerful enhancer and increased the number of productive integration events (as measured by a colony assay) in both K562 and MEL cells. 5' HS-3 had no activity in K562 cells or in transiently transfected MEL cells, but was nearly as active as 5' HS-2 in the MEL cell colony assay. Two additional tests confirmed the identification of murine 5' HS-3: first, a DNA fragment containing 5' HS-3 confers copy number-dependent, integration-site independent inducibility on a linked beta-globin gene in the MEL cell environment. Secondly, a strong DNAseI hypersensitive site maps to the location of the 5' HS-3 functional core in chromatin derived from MEL cells. Collectively, these data suggest that we have identified the murine homologue of human 5' HS-3, and that this site is functional when integrated into the chromatin of MEL cells but not K562 cells. 5' HS-3 may therefore contain information that contributes to the development-specific expression of the beta-like globin genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Jewish Hospital, Washington University Medical Center, St Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hug
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ley
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D015672:Erythroid Precursor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D005914:Globins; D004247:DNA; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I