Nuclear factor I family members regulate the transcription of surfactant protein-C

Transcription of the surfactant protein-C (SP-C) gene is restricted to Type II epithelial cells in the adult lung. We have shown previously that the 0.32-kilobase pair (kb) mouse SP-C promoter is functional in transient transfection assays of the lung epithelial cell-derived cell line, MLE-15, and that thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) transactivates promoter activity. The 0.32-kb SP-C promoter can be separated into a proximal promoter region (-230 to +18) and an enhancer region (-318 to -230). Three DNase I footprints were mapped in the promoter region (C1 through C3) and two in the enhancer region (C4 and C5). We now show that nuclear factor I (NFI) family members bind to both individual NFI half-sites in footprints C1, C3, and C5, and to a composite site in footprint C4 by competition gel retardation and antibody supershift analyses. Mutational analysis of the 0.32-kb mouse SP-C promoter and transient transfection of MLE-15 cells demonstrated that the NFI binding sites are required for promoter activity in this cell type. Site-specific mutation of the proximal or distal NFI sites drastically reduced transactivation by a co-transfected NFI-A expression vector in HeLa cells. These data indicate that NFI family member(s), binding to sites in both the promoter and enhancer regions, regulate SP-C gene expression in a process independent of TTF-1.