title: Identification of human GATA-2 gene distal IS exon and its expression in hematopoietic stem cell fractions.
abstract: Transcription factor GATA-2 is essential for the proper function of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors. Two first exons/promoters have been found in the mouse GATA-2 gene, and a distal IS promoter shows activity specific to hematopoietic progenitors and neural tissues. To ascertain whether the two-promoter system is also utilized in the human GATA-2 gene, we isolated and analyzed a P1 phage clone containing this gene. The nucleotide sequence of the human GATA-2 gene 5' flanking region was determined over 10 kbp, and a human IS exon was identified in the locus through sequence comparison analysis with that of the mouse GATA-2 IS exon. RNA blotting and reverse-transcribed PCR analyses identified a transcript that starts from the IS exon in human leukemia-derived cell lines. The IS-originated transcript was also identified in CD34-positive bone marrow and cord blood mononuclear cells, which are recognized as clinically important hematopoietic stem cell-enriched fractions. Phylogenic comparison of the human and mouse GATA-2 gene sequences revealed several regions in the locus that exhibit high sequence similarity. These results demonstrate that the GATA-2 gene regulatory machinery is conserved among vertebrates. The fact that the human IS promoter is active in the hematopoietic stem cell/progenitor fraction may be an important clue for the design of a vector system that can specifically express various genes in hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors.
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Basic Medical Sciences and Center for Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance (TARA) and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minegishi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harigae
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamagiwa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minegishi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akine
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017101:Bacteriophage P1 / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D050989:GATA2 Transcription Factor; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050989:GATA2 Transcription Factor; C494711:GATA2 protein, human; C494712:Gata2 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors