title: The chicken Mx promoter contains an ISRE motif and confers interferon inducibility to a reporter gene in chick and monkey cells.
abstract: Genomic DNA containing the first four exons and upstream sequences of the interferon (IFN)-inducible chicken Mx gene was cloned and sequenced. The exon/intron structure of the chicken Mx gene resembles that of the mouse Mx1 gene: exon 1 is very small, the first intron contains a noncoding exon 1' that is alternatively spliced in different chicken breeds and exon 2 harbors the ATG initiation codon. Exons 3 and 4 of the chicken and mouse Mx genes have identical lengths and the encoded polypeptides show a high degree of homology. Sequences upstream of the transcription start site functioned as an IFN-inducible promoter in chick and monkey cells when cloned in front of a promoterless luciferase reporter gene. Deletion analysis suggested that the sequence 5'AGTTTCGTTTCT3' is of critical importance for inducibility. It conforms to the consensus sequence of the IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) present in Mx and other IFN-alpha/beta-inducible promoters of mammals. These results suggest that the ISRE motif has been conserved and that it regulates expression of IFN-inducible genes in both mammals and birds.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bernasconi
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Staeheli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005091:Exons; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D000882:Haplorhini; D007369:Interferon Inducers / Q000494:pharmacology; D007372:Interferons / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D007369:Interferon Inducers; D007372:Interferons; D008156:Luciferases