Role of sequences within the first intron in the regulation of expression of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha

Resting human peripheral blood T cells synthesize proteins at very low rates and contain very low levels of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 2 alpha mRNA. During mitogenic activation, the level of eIF-2 alpha mRNA increases at least 50-fold, an effect thought to be due primarily to intranuclear stabilization of the primary transcript (Cohen, R. B., Boal, T. R., and Safer, B. (1990) EMBO J. 9, 3831-3837). Analysis of sequences within the first intron revealed a region with homology to the "initiator" (Inr) sequence first described by Smale and Baltimore (Smale, S. T., and Baltimore, D. (1989) Cell 57, 103-113). This Inr element is positioned 450 bases downstream of the eIF-2 alpha promoter and is oriented to generate an overlapping antisense transcript. Deletion or mutation of the Inr element results in a reproducible 5-8-fold increase in the activity of an eIF-2 alpha promoter-driven CAT reporter gene and a corresponding 2.5-fold decrease in activity of an antisense driven luciferase reporter gene in vivo in 293 cells. In vitro transcription analysis also reveals antisense transcripts which depend on an intact Inr element and whose 5' ends map to sequences surrounding the Inr consensus sequence. A potential role for double-stranded RNA generated by these overlapping divergent transcription units in the regulation of eIF-2 alpha gene expression in T cells is suggested.