Structure and inducible regulation of the human c-erb B2/neu promoter

Overexpression of the p185 product of the c-erb B2/neu gene is correlated with cell transformation and tumorigenesis. To study expression of this gene, a 1548-base pair fragment (-1571 to -24 bp relative to the ATG initiator codon) of the human c-erb B2/neu 5'-noncoding region was isolated, sequenced, and analyzed with respect to basal and inducible activity using the luciferase expression vector pSVOAL delta 5'. This fragment contained an Alu repetitive element which was confirmed in two independent clones. Basal activity of the 1548-base pair fragment was equivalent to the epidermal growth factor receptor promoter region and 32 and 16% as active as the Herpes simplex thymidine kinase and Rous sarcoma virus promoters, respectively. Induction of luciferase activity was observed in response to epidermal growth factor, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, dibutyryl cAMP, and retinoic acid. Additive and synergistic responses with more than 30-fold increases were observed after treatment with combinations of inducing agents, indicating complex regulation of this gene. These results show that the promoter region of the c-erb B2/neu gene contains sequences that dictate regulatory responses to several environmental signals.