Genetic activity of a trans-regulatory locus in hepatoma hybrid cells

Tissue-specific extinguisher-1 (TSE1) is a genetic locus on mouse chromosome 11 that can repress expression of several liver genes in trans. The activity of this locus is apparent in rat hepatoma microcell hybrids that retain chromosome 11 from mouse fibroblasts: such hybrids fail to accumulate particular hepatic mRNAs, including those encoding tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). In this report, we show that TSE1 from a TAT-, PEPCK- mouse hepatoma cell line expressing a fetal liver phenotype also induced TAT and PEPCK extinction when transferred into rat hepatoma recipients. Thus, TSE1 appears to be active in TAT-, PEPCK- cells of both hepatic and non-hepatic lineages. This suggests that TSE1 may play a role in the developmental regulation of hepatic gene expression in the liver.