In vitro analysis of the rat liver-type arginase promoter

Genes for urea cycle enzymes including liver-type arginase are expressed mainly in the liver and are regulated developmentally, nutritionally, and hormonally in a coordinated manner. The promoter region of the rat arginase gene was investigated with an in vitro transcription system using nuclear extracts prepared from rat tissues. Accurate initiation of the transcription in liver nuclear extracts was confirmed by runoff analysis and S1 nuclease mapping. The arginase promoter was transcribed more efficiently in liver nuclear extracts than in brain extracts, reproducing the in vivo tissue specificity qualitatively. Analysis of deletion mutants of the 5'-flanking region in liver nuclear extracts revealed a positive regulatory region spanning nucleotides -90 to -51 relative to the transcription start site. Overlapping this region, two protected areas were detected by DNase I footprinting. Competition analysis with synthetic oligonucleotides showed that the more downstream protected area was occupied, in a mutually exclusive manner, by two factors each related to CTF/NF-1 and Sp1. The other more upstream protected area was recognized by a factor related to the liver-enriched transcription factor C/EBP, which was recently shown to interact with regulatory regions of two other urea cycle enzyme genes.