title: Characterization of the human CD4 gene promoter: transcription from the CD4 gene core promoter is tissue-specific and is activated by Ets proteins.
abstract: We analyzed the 5' transcription control sequences of the human CD4 gene. We located the transcription initiation site and showed that the CD4 core promoter (positions -40 to +16) lacks a classical "TATA" or initiator positioning consensus sequence but directs precise and efficient transcription when coupled to the ubiquitously active simian virus 40 enhancer. The transcriptional activity of the CD4 gene promoter correlated with CD4 expression in various cell types. Interestingly, the CD4 core promoter also displayed a tissue-specific transcriptional activity. Within this fragment, three nucleic acid sequences are completely conserved in the murine CD4 gene. One of these sequences contains a perfect ETS consensus sequence. Another ETS consensus sequence is located 1060 nt upstream. Electrophoretic-mobility-shift assays showed that the core promoter ETS motif binds an Ets-related protein specifically expressed at high levels in CD4+ cells. Moreover, in CD4- cells, overexpression of Ets-1 or Ets-2 efficiently and specifically activated transcription from the CD4 promoter and core promoter. These data indicate that Ets transcription factors play a central role in controlling CD4 gene expression, by binding to both a classical remote site and an unusual proximal activator sequence.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique des Pathologies Immunitaires, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Hopital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giovane
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wasylyk
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klatzmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D050784:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016385:TATA Box; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D015704:CD4 Antigens; C494041:ETS1 protein, human; C494042:Ets1 protein, mouse; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D050784:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D050783:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets; D014157:Transcription Factors