DNA conformation driven by AP-1 triggers cell-specific expression via a strong epithelial enhancer

We report here the characterization of the regulatory region of the human LAMA3 gene, coding for the alpha3A chain of laminin-5. A 202 bp fragment is sufficient to confer epithelial-specific expression to a thymidine kinase promoter through the cooperative effect of three AP-1 binding sites. Remarkably, removal of the sequences located between the AP-1 sites does not modify the promoter activity in keratinocytes but allows strong expression in fibroblasts. Replacement of the deleted sequences by non-homologous ones fully restores the restricted enhancement in keratinocytes. Functional analysis and mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that a minimal distance between the AP-1 sites is required for the enhancer DNA fragment to adopt a particular conformation driven by the binding of Jun-Fos heterodimers. In non-permissive cells, this conformation leads to the anchorage of non-DNA-binding fibroblastic cofactors to form an inhibitory ternary complex. Therefore, our results describe for the first time an unusual conformation-dependent epithelial-specific enhancer.