Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

Brain Slice Biotinylation: An Ex Vivo Approach to Measure Region-specific Plasma Membrane Protein Trafficking in Adult Neurons
Published on: April 3, 2014
Identification of an intronic cis-acting element in the human dopamine transporter gene
Ying Zhao1, Yanhong Zhou, Nian Xiong
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02478, USA.
Abstract:
The human dopamine transporter gene (hDAT) encodes the dopamine transporter in dopamine (DA) neurons to regulate DA transmission. hDAT expression varies significantly from neuron to neuron, and from individual to individual so that dysregulation of hDAT is related to many neuropsychiatric disorders. It is critical to identify hDAT-specific cis-acting elements that regulate the hDAT expression. Previous studies showed that hDAT Intron 1 displayed inhibitory activity for reporter gene expression. Here we report that the hDAT Intron 1 contains a 121-bp fragment that down-regulated both SV40 and hDAT promoter activities by 80% in vitro. Subfragments of 121-bp still down-regulated the SV40 promoter but not the hDAT promoter, as supported by nuclear protein-binding activities. Collectively, 121-bp is a silencer in vitro that might coordinate with transcriptional activities both inside and outside 121-bp in regulation of hDAT.
More Related Videos
07:25Identification of Dopamine D1-Alpha Receptor Within Rodent Nucleus Accumbens by an Innovative RNA In Situ Detection Technology
Published on: March 27, 2018
09:34Targeted Next-generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics Pipeline to Evaluate Genetic Determinants of Constitutional Disease
Published on: April 4, 2018
Related Concept Videos
The Significance of Membrane Transport
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Non-LTR Retrotransposons