title: Positive and negative regulation of the erythropoietin gene.
abstract: In order to investigate positive and negative regulatory elements of the erythropoietin (Epo) gene, synthetic oligonucleotides were designed to control Epo transcription by means of an antigen strategy. We devised a new method for detecting regulatory elements of genes that have a weak promoter. Synthetic oligonucleotides were incubated with Hep3B cells in the presence or absence of CoCl2 or hypoxia. To exclude the effect of translational regulation, Epo mRNA concentration was determined by competitive polymerase chain reaction. The addition of antisense oligonucleotide for CACCC elements decreased the production of Epo mRNA in a dose-dependent fashion when cells were stimulated by CoCl2 or hypoxia. In contrast, the addition of antisense oligonucleotide for the GATA element caused a dose-dependent stimulation of Epo mRNA production either in the presence or absence of CoCl2 or hypoxia. Triple helix formation was revealed by electrophoresis. CACCC elements were demonstrated to be positive regulatory elements of the Epo gene, whereas the GATA element was a negative regulatory element. Furthermore, by gel mobility shift assays, we demonstrated evidence for the presence of factors in Hep3B cell nuclear extract that specifically bind to CACCC or GATA elements. Based on these observations, we presented the possibility that triple helix formation could serve as a novel means for transcriptional regulation of the gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi-ken, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Imagawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miura
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D003035:Cobalt / Q000494:pharmacology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004921:Erythropoietin; D003035:Cobalt