Lens-specific promoter activity of a mouse gamma-crystallin gene.
Crystallins are the major water-soluble proteins in vertebrate eye lenses. These lens-specific proteins are encoded by several gene families, and their expression is differentially regulated during lens cell differentiation. Here we show that a cloned mouse gamma-crystallin promoter is active in lens explants derived from 14-day-old chicken embryos but inactive in a variety of cells of non-lens origin. We also show that sequences required for proper utilization of this promoter are contained between nucleotide positions -392 and +47 relative to the transcription initiation site; deletion of sequences from positions -392 to -171 completely abolishes promoter activity. Since chickens do not have gamma-crystallin genes, the expression of a mouse gamma-crystallin promoter in chicken lens cells suggests that different classes of crystallin genes may be regulated by common lens tissue-specific mechanism(s) independent of species.
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003459:Crystallins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004274:DNA, Recombinant / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
D003459:Crystallins; D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D011994:Recombinant Proteins