Abstract
Background. The understanding of cutaneous pigmentation biology is relevant from the biologic and clinical point of view. The binding of α-melanocortin and its specific receptor, on the plasma membrane of melanin synthesising cells, plays a crucial role in melanins biosynthesis. Furthermore, loss of MC1R function is associated with an increased incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. The expression of the α-melanocortin receptor gene is highly controlled but, at the present, region responsible for tissue-specific activity of the gene promoter has not been identified. Methods. We have cloned the genomic sequences upstream the human MC1R coding gene. A DNA fragment of 5 kilobases upstream the human MC1R encoding sequence was placed in front of a reporter gene and several deletion mutants of such fragment have been prepared. These constructs have been tested for the ability to drive the melanocyte-specific gene expression of the reporter gene using transfection experiments in melanocyte and non-melanocyte cell lines. From these experiments we identified a DNA fragment with the ability to drive the gene transcription in a tissue-specific way and we used this small DNA fragment in DNA-protein interaction assays. Results. We show that the 150 base pairs upstream the MC1R gene initiation codon are able to drive the melanocyte-specific gene transcription. Furthermore, we provide experimental evidences suggesting that on such minimal melanocyte-specific gene promoter can assemble tissue-specific complexes. Conclusion. The present results strongly imply that the transcriptional regulation of the melanocyte-specific MC1R gene requires an internal promoter located in the 150 base pairs upstream the initiation codon.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 71 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Oncology
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Identification of the minimal melanocyte-specific promoter in the melanocortin receptor 1 gene. / Miccadei, Stefania; Pascucci, Barbara; Picardo, Mauro; Natali, Pier Giorgio; Civitareale, Donato.
In: Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 27, No. 1, 71, 2008.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification of the minimal melanocyte-specific promoter in the melanocortin receptor 1 gene
AU - Miccadei, Stefania
AU - Pascucci, Barbara
AU - Picardo, Mauro
AU - Natali, Pier Giorgio
AU - Civitareale, Donato
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Background. The understanding of cutaneous pigmentation biology is relevant from the biologic and clinical point of view. The binding of α-melanocortin and its specific receptor, on the plasma membrane of melanin synthesising cells, plays a crucial role in melanins biosynthesis. Furthermore, loss of MC1R function is associated with an increased incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. The expression of the α-melanocortin receptor gene is highly controlled but, at the present, region responsible for tissue-specific activity of the gene promoter has not been identified. Methods. We have cloned the genomic sequences upstream the human MC1R coding gene. A DNA fragment of 5 kilobases upstream the human MC1R encoding sequence was placed in front of a reporter gene and several deletion mutants of such fragment have been prepared. These constructs have been tested for the ability to drive the melanocyte-specific gene expression of the reporter gene using transfection experiments in melanocyte and non-melanocyte cell lines. From these experiments we identified a DNA fragment with the ability to drive the gene transcription in a tissue-specific way and we used this small DNA fragment in DNA-protein interaction assays. Results. We show that the 150 base pairs upstream the MC1R gene initiation codon are able to drive the melanocyte-specific gene transcription. Furthermore, we provide experimental evidences suggesting that on such minimal melanocyte-specific gene promoter can assemble tissue-specific complexes. Conclusion. The present results strongly imply that the transcriptional regulation of the melanocyte-specific MC1R gene requires an internal promoter located in the 150 base pairs upstream the initiation codon.
AB - Background. The understanding of cutaneous pigmentation biology is relevant from the biologic and clinical point of view. The binding of α-melanocortin and its specific receptor, on the plasma membrane of melanin synthesising cells, plays a crucial role in melanins biosynthesis. Furthermore, loss of MC1R function is associated with an increased incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. The expression of the α-melanocortin receptor gene is highly controlled but, at the present, region responsible for tissue-specific activity of the gene promoter has not been identified. Methods. We have cloned the genomic sequences upstream the human MC1R coding gene. A DNA fragment of 5 kilobases upstream the human MC1R encoding sequence was placed in front of a reporter gene and several deletion mutants of such fragment have been prepared. These constructs have been tested for the ability to drive the melanocyte-specific gene expression of the reporter gene using transfection experiments in melanocyte and non-melanocyte cell lines. From these experiments we identified a DNA fragment with the ability to drive the gene transcription in a tissue-specific way and we used this small DNA fragment in DNA-protein interaction assays. Results. We show that the 150 base pairs upstream the MC1R gene initiation codon are able to drive the melanocyte-specific gene transcription. Furthermore, we provide experimental evidences suggesting that on such minimal melanocyte-specific gene promoter can assemble tissue-specific complexes. Conclusion. The present results strongly imply that the transcriptional regulation of the melanocyte-specific MC1R gene requires an internal promoter located in the 150 base pairs upstream the initiation codon.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=58349119363&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1756-9966-27-71
DO - 10.1186/1756-9966-27-71
M3 - Article
C2 - 19017395
AN - SCOPUS:58349119363
VL - 27
JO - Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research
JF - Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research
SN - 0392-9078
IS - 1
M1 - 71
ER -