Three different states of the chromatin structure of the mouse peripherin gene

The chromatin structure of the mouse peripherin gene domain was analyzed in peripherin-positive and -negative cell lines. At least nine DNase I hypersensitive sites (HSS) are present within the 20-kb peripherin domain in the mouse neuroblastoma cell lines which express peripherin. Three of them are situated in intron I and intron III, the others being distributed within the 5' flanking region up to -5.5 kb. The presence of these sites was also investigated in the peripherin chromatin domain of peripherin-negative cell lines. Two other types of HSS distribution were observed along the peripherin gene according to the category of cell considered: constantly peripherin-negative cells, or negative cells arising from transiently peripherin-expressing precursors. From comparison of HSS patterns in these cell lines with those of neuroblastoma cells, it can be predicted that HSS located in the region -1500/+800 bp participate in cell-specific expression of the mouse peripherin gene.