title: Phylogenetic footprinting of the human cytochrome c oxidase subunit VB promoter.
abstract: The human COX5B gene encodes subunit Vb of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). COX Vb is 1 of the 10 subunits of the mitochondrial COX complex encoded by a nuclear gene. We have defined a region in the human COX5B promoter essential for gene expression and shown by phylogenetic footprinting of 11 primate COX5B promoters that many cis-regulatory elements in this region are evolutionarily conserved. The transcription start site of human COX5B was mapped 58 bp upstream of the initiation Met codon by primer extension using a thermostable reverse transcriptase. A 475-bp region (-456 to +20) of the human COX5B gene was shown to function as a promoter for the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene in expression vectors when transfected into HeLa cells. The human COX5B gene is located in a CpG island and contains several potential binding sites for the transcription factor Sp1, but no consensus TATA box element. Several sequence elements associated with the transcriptional regulation of respiratory genes were also found in the promoter and 5' flanking region, including a single NRF-1 site and two 9-bp direct repeats containing binding sites for ets-domain proteins, such as NRF-2/GABP. Many features of the human COX5B promoter are conserved in the COX5B promoters of primates, in particular, the presence of a single binding site for NRF-1 and multiple sites for Sp1 and NRF-2/GABP. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrate that the conserved NRF-1 site in primate COX5B promoters is specifically recognized by a factor present in HeLa nuclear extracts. Phylogenetic footprinting has identified additional conserved elements that may also function as binding sites for regulatory factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Bachman
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dasen
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Lomax
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011323:Primates; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV