title: Rat arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase gene: upstream and intronic components of a bipartite promoter.
abstract: The daily rhythm in the activity of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) controls the rhythm in melatonin synthesis in the pineal gland. In the rat, transcriptional regulatory mechanisms play a major role in determining the observed pattern of AA-NAT gene expression. Remarkably, high levels of AA-NAT transcripts can only be detected in the night pineal; significant levels can also be found in the retina. To characterize the regulatory events that impinge upon the activity of the AA-NAT gene we embarked on the systematic analysis of the AA-NAT promoter. To this end we transfected several AA-NAT promoter derivative constructs to monitor reporter gene activity in both pineal and non-pineal primary cell cultures. Our studies revealed a cooperative arrangement between upstream promoter and downstream intronic regions which appear to contain most of the key elements necessary to ensure the proper spatio-temporal pattern of AA-NAT gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Section on Neuroendocrinology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Covington
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA; D020868:Gene Silencing; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000166:cytology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D020218:Response Elements / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase