GENOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE ME491/CD63 ANTIGEN GENE AND FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF THE 5'-FLANKING REGULATORY SEQUENCES

Genomic structure of the ME491/CD63 antigen gene and promoter activity of the 5′-flanking regulatory sequences were studied. The antigen gene consists of eight exons that span 4 kilobase-pairs. Primer extension analysis with RNA from cultured human cells identified three major transcription initiation sites. The 5′-flanking region of exon 1 has features characteristic to promoters of many house-keeping genes and growth-regulating genes. The region is highly GC rich and contains potential binding sites for transcription factors such as Sp1 and ETF, but not a TATA box. The 5′-flanking sequence exerted strong promoter activity when linked to a reporter gene. Deletion mutant analysis of the 5′-flanking sequence has strongly suggested that a potential, binding site for AP-1 plays an important role in positively regulating the gene expression. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc.