Diverse human aldolase C gene promoter regions are required to direct specific LacZ expression in the hippocampus and Purkinje cells of transgenic mice

Aldolase C is selectively expressed in the hippocampus and Purkinje cells in adult mammalian brain. The gene promoter regions governing cell-specific aldolase C expression are obscure. We show that aldolase C messenger expression in the hippocampus is restricted to CA3 neurons. The human distal promoter region (-200/-1200 bp) is essential for β-galactosidase (β-gal) expression in CA3 neurons and drives high stripe-like β-gal expression in Purkinje cells. The 200 bp proximal promoter region is sufficient to drive low brain-specific and stripe-like β-gal expression in Purkinje cells. Thus, the human aldolase C gene sequences studied drive endogenous-like expression in the brain.