Location of a glucose-dependent response region in the rat S14 promoter

The rat S14 gene provides an excellent model to examine the DNA sequences associated with carbohydrate regulation of hepatic gene transcription. We constructed internal deletions within 5 kilobases of the 5'-up-stream region and ligated these to a luciferase reporter gene. The constructs were transfected into primary hepatocytes and pancreatic HIT cells. In hepatocytes, an increase in the medium glucose concentration led to a parallel increase in endogenous mRNA S14 content and transfected luciferase reporter activity driven by 5 kilobases of the S14 promoter. Internal deletions of several sequences from -2706 to -285 each led to a decrease in glucose-stimulated activity, suggesting that multiple elements are necessary for the transcriptional response to glucose. Deletion from -1583 to -1069 nearly abolished the glucose effect in both cell types and delineated the carbohydrate response element (CHORE). The CHORE deletion was specific for glucose, because it did not alter the response to thyroid hormone, another known regulator of this gene. Although the CHORE sequence did not confer glucose activation to either a heterologous promoter or the basal S14 promoter (bases -285 to +19), a 5-fold enhanced response was observed when two copies of the CHORE were ligated to the first 2110 basepairs of the S14 promoter. The results suggest that the CHORE contains a carbohydrate regulatory element and operates as an enhancer in concert with other sequences within the S14 gene.