title: Transcriptional regulation of the salivary histatin gene: finding of a strong positive regulatory element and its binding protein.
abstract: Histatins are salivary proteins found and expressed in human salivary glands. They play a role in the non-immune system of antimicrobial defense, for instance, against Candida albicans. The transcriptional regulatory sequences of the histatin gene, HIS1, have remained obscure for a long time. Here, we cloned the putative promoter from human genomic DNA and tested it in a luciferase reporter system. This promoter is much more active in salivary gland cells than in other cell types. Analysis of deletion mutants revealed that the region encompassing -2254 to -1748 is a strong positive transcriptional element, and its functional core sequence (termed HTN27 box) works in correct and reverse orientations in synergy with downstream sequences, the region spanning -680 to +28 and a proximal promoter. The plus single-stranded HTN27 box is specifically bound by a 100 kDa protein that is present in HSG cells, but not in HeLa cells. These findings indicate that the regulation of the histatin gene expression may be intricate, and it seems to have a cell-type preference in the salivary gland cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano 399-0781, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujigaki
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oomori
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ouryouji
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: Pao-Li
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006367:HeLa Cells; D054808:Histatins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D054808:Histatins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D009711:Nucleotides