title: A conserved TATA-less proximal promoter drives basal transcription from the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor gene.
abstract: The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) focuses at the cell surface the activation of pro-uPA and, hence, the formation of plasmin, thus enhancing directional extracellular proteolysis. To characterize the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that control receptor expression, we have cloned an uPAR DNA segment containing upstream regulatory sequences from both the human and murine genomes. We report that a proximal promoter, contained within 180 bp from the major transcription start sites of the human uPAR gene, drives basal transcription. This region lacks TATA and CAAT boxes and contains relatively GC-rich proximal sequences. A subregion of this sequence, highly conserved between human and murine genes, contains most of the promoter activity and is specifically bound by HeLa nuclear proteins, one of which belongs to the SP1 class.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Soravia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grebe
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Helin
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Degen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blasi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000950:Antigens, Ly / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015723:Gene Library; D005796:Genes; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016385:TATA Box; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000950:Antigens, Ly; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004546:Elapid Venoms; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator