期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1995
卷号：92
期号：4
页码：1242-1246
DOI：10.1073/pnas.92.4.1242
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：In this report we demonstrate that the human cerebellum contains neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) mRNAs with two distinct 5'-untranslated regions that are encoded through use of closely linked but separate promoters. nNOS cDNA clones were shown to contain different 5' terminal exons spliced to a common exon 2. Genomic cloning and sequence analysis demonstrate that the unique exons are positioned within 300 bp of each other but separated from exon 2 by an intron that is at least 20 kb in length. A CpG island engulfs the downstream 5'-terminal exon. In contrast, most of the upstream exon resides outside of this CpG island. Interestingly, the upstream exon includes a GT dinucleotide repeat. A fusion gene with a 414-bp nNOS genomic fragment that includes a portion of the upstream 5'-terminal exon and its immediate 5'-flanking DNA is expressed in transfected HeLa cells. Also expressed is a fusion gene that contains the luciferase reporter under transcriptional control by a 308-bp genomic fragment that includes the region separating both 5'-terminal exons. These results indicate that expression of these exons is subject to transcriptional control by separate promoters. However, the proximity of these promoters raise the possibility that complex interactions may be involved in regulating nNOS gene expression at these sites.
