PubMed:12818424 JSONTXT 21 Projects

Isolation and functional analysis of the melanoma specific promoter region of human GD3 synthase gene. Human GD3 synthase gene consisted of five exons and span about 135 kilobases. The 5'-flanking region lacked canonical TATA and CAAT boxes, but contained SP1 binding site(s) as in rat and mouse. The promoter activity in the 5'-flanking region (-2262 approximately +1) became definite when SV40 enhancer was added to the reporter plasmid. Luciferase assay with deletion mutants suggested the existence of a silencer region between -2262 and -978 nt similarly with those in mouse and rat. They also commonly contained a GT/CG repeat sequence at upstream of -1200 approximately -1300 nt, suggesting that they form Z-type DNA, and are involved in the gene regulation.