Transcriptional directionality of the human insulin-degrading enzyme promoter

Unidirectional promoters dominate among mammalian genomes. However, the mechanism through which the transcriptional directionality of promoters is accomplished remains to be clarified. Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a ubiquitously expressed zinc metalloprotease, whose promoter contains a CpG island. We previously showed that the basal promoter region of mouse IDE has bidirectional transcriptional activity, but an upstream promoter element blocks its antisense transcription. Therefore, we wonder whether the human IDE promoter contains an analogous element. Similarly, the basal promoter region of human IDE (-102 ~ +173 and -196 ~ +173 relative to the transcription start site) showed bidirectional transcriptional activity. However, the region from -348 to +173 could only be transcribed from the normal orientation, implying that an upstream promoter element between -348 and -196 blocks the antisense transcription of the human IDE promoter. Through promoter deletion and mutagenesis analysis, we mapped this element precisely and found that the upstream promoter element locates between -318 and -304. Furthermore, the transcription-blocking elements in the mouse and human IDE promoters inhibited the transcription of the SV40 promoter when put downstream of it. In conclusion, we identify an upstream promoter element which blocks the antisense transcription of the human IDE promoter. Our studies are helpful to clarify the transcriptional directionality of promoters.