Primary Sequence and Functional Analysis of the Bovine Galanin Gene Promoter in Human Neuroblastoma Cells

Galanin (GAL) is a biologically active neuropeptide that has been suggested to play a role in stress-induced inhibition of insulin secretion, in dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and in the regulation of growth hormone secretion. We report here the isolation of a bovine genomic clone containing more than 5-kb 5′-flanking sequences. Partial sequence analysis of the genomic clone revealed an atypical TATA-box in the promoter (ATAAATA) and several consensus sequences that typically bind transcription factors, including those that bind NFkB, Sp1, and AP-2. Primer extension and RNase protection analyses revealed that transcription is initiated at two sites, 28 and 31 bp, respectively, downstream from the TATA-box.

To locate functionally active regulatory elements on the GAL gene, we first identified a neural crest-derived human neuroblastoma cell line, SK-N-SH subclone SH-SY5Y, that expressed easily detectable levels of endogenous GAL mRNA. We then constructed plasmids containing various lengths of bovine GAL 5′-flanking sequences and the first exon fused to a reporter plasmid encoding luciferase. Transfection of these plasmids into the SH-SY5Y cells and analysis by transient expression indicated that 131 bp of 5′ gene sequence was sufficient to obtain maximal basal expression. Further, expression was suppresed 16-fold when 5 kb were included, suggesting the presence of a distal repressor element(s).

In another set of experiments, we found that GAL mRNA levels could be induced more than 10-fold by 20-hr treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). In cells transfected with the same plasmids, luciferase activity was also induced by PMA, but the degree of induction did not significantly differ among the deletion constructions (varying from six- to eight-fold), suggesting that elements conferring PMA induction and/or RNA stabilization may be located within 131 bp of the transcriptional start site, in the first exon, or on gene sequences not studied here.