title: Regulation of the Human Ghrelin Promoter Activity by Transcription Factors, NF-κB and Nkx2.2.
abstract: To examine the gene expression of ghrelin, a growth hormone releasing and appetite stimulating hormone from stomach, we constructed human ghrelin promoter-reporter vectors and analyzed the promoter activity. The ghrelin promoter activity was high when cultured cells that express ghrelin mRNA endogenously like TT or ECC10 cells were used, indicating that these cells contain factors necessary for full expression of the human ghrelin gene. The human ghrelin promoter contains both positive and negative regulatory regions. A transient decrease of the promoter activity was found when the reporter vector with the -1600 fragment of the human ghrelin promoter was transfected into cultured cells. We then examined the effect of several transcription factors on the ghrelin promoter activity and found that NF-κB suppressed and that Nkx2.2, a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that is important for ghrelin cell development in pancreas, activates the promoter activity. These transcription factors may be possible targets for the control of ghrelin gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics, Institute of Life Science, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka 839-0864, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9752-7399
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiimura
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics, Institute of Life Science, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka 839-0864, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohgusu
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics, Institute of Life Science, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka 839-0864, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics, Institute of Life Science, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka 839-0864, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayasu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3153-0341
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojima