Abstract
Expression of the rat growth hormone (rGH) gene is highly tissue-specific, being limited to a subset of cells in the anterior pituitary. DNA sequences within 237 bp of the transcription start site of the rGH gene play a major role in directing the expression of this gene in the pituitary. Transfection studies in cultured rat pituitary (GC) cells demonstrate that optimal expression of rGH requires the binding of at least two non-tissue-specific factors whose contribution to rGH expression is dependent on the binding of the pituitary-specific factor, Pit-1. Although the segment of DNA containing the elements to which these factors bind can direct pituitary-specific expression of a gene lacking upstream promoter elements, it cannot confer stimulation to either a heterologous or homologous promoter when placed downstream from the coding sequences. These results suggest that expression of the rGH gene exclusively in the pituitary is due to the activity of a tissue-specific promoter element, not an enhancer.
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