Identification and characterization of the promoter for the human metastasis suppressor gene nm23-H1

The nm23-H1 gene, localized to chromosome 17q21-22, has been demonstrated in transfection experiments to significantly inhibit the metastatic potential of melanoma and breast carcinoma cell lines. In this study, we report the isolation, sequencing and partial characterization of the nm23-H1 promoter. The nm23-H1 promoter has no TATA box, but it contains a number of sequences which may bind known transcriptional regulatory proteins (AP-1, CTF/NF1, ACAAAG, and Ets). We have also identified two nonconsensus transcriptional start sites within one of the Ets binding sites. Nuclear proteins from HeLa cells bound specifically to a 95 bp region of the nm23-H1 promoter which harbors the CTF/NF1 recognition consensus sequence, suggesting that CTF/NF1 may play a role in nm23-H1 expression.