title: The first intron of the mouse neurofilament light gene (NF-L) increases gene expression.
abstract: Neurofilament expression is developmentally and post-transcriptionally controlled. Using transient transfection assays in mouse L cells, we demonstrate that the expression of the mouse neurofilament light subunit (NF-L) is influenced by intron sequences. NF-L expression was decreased twenty fold upon deletion of the three intron sequences. Elements contained principally within a 350 bp region of intron 1 were responsible for enhanced NF-L expression. Enhancement of expression did not occur when intron I was placed 3' to a heterologous chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene whose expression was driven by NF-L 5' sequences. The intron enhancement of NF-L expression was not promoter-specific and also occurred with the mouse sarcoma virus (MSV) LTR promoter. These data suggest intron sequences may be important in regulating NF gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Medical Biotechnology Center, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Janicki
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Monteiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D016900:Neurofilament Proteins