title: The hepatitis B virus S promoter comprises A CCAAT motif and two initiation regions.
abstract: The hepatitis B virus S (major surface gene) promoter is embedded in two overlapping open reading frames and specifies several transcripts with heterogeneous 5' termini. We have identified the cis-elements necessary for S promoter function. A single upstream CCAAT element is essential for high level expression in both liver and non-liver cells. No TATA box is present, but two regions surrounding the initiation sites can function separately as initiating elements. These results show that the S promoter has a simple requirement for upstream activating sequences, but a complex initiation region. Therefore, it may provide a suitable model system for studying transcription initiation in non-TATA type promoters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: D X
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Yen
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens