title: Promoter elements conferring neuron-specific expression of the beta 2-subunit of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor studied in vitro and in transgenic mice.
abstract: Several genes encoding subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors have been cloned and regulatory elements involved in the transcription of the alpha 2 and alpha 7-subunit genes have been described. Yet, the detailed mechanisms governing the neuron-specific transcription and the spatio-temporal expression pattern of these genes remain largely uninvestigated. The beta 2-subunit is the most widely expressed neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit in the nervous system. We have studied the structural and regulatory properties of the 5' sequence of this gene. A fragment of 1163 bp of upstream sequence is sufficient to drive the cell-specific transcription of a reporter gene in both transient transfection assays and in transgenic mice. Deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of this promoter reveal two negative elements and one positive element. The positively-acting sequence includes one functional E-box. One of the repressor elements is located in the transcribed region and is the NRSE/RE1 sequence already described in promoters of neuronal genes. In this paper, we describe the neuron-specific promoter of the gene encoding the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor beta 2-subunit.
authors.affiliation: UA CNRS D1284, Département des Biotechnologies, Institut Pasteur 25/28, Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bessis
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zoli
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Le Novère
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picciotto
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Changeux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005796:Genes; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic