Ngn. Milton et al., DIFFERENTIAL REGULATION OF NEURONAL NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE-RECEPTOR SUBUNIT GENE PROMOTERS BY BRN-3 POU FAMILY TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS, Biochemical journal, 317, 1996, pp. 419-423
The regulatory region of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh) r
eceptor alpha 2 subunit gene is activated by the Brn-3b POU family tra
nscription factor but not by the closely related factors Brn-3a and Br
n-3c. This pattern of regulation has not previously been observed for
other neuronally expressed genes, several of which, such as those enco
ding alpha-internexin or SNAP-25, are activated by Brn-3a and Brn-3c b
ut repressed by Brn-3b. The alpha 3 nACh receptor subunit gene is also
shown to be activated by Brn-3a but is repressed by Brn-3b and Brn-3c
. In contrast, the Brn-3 POU family transcription factors have no effe
cts on either the alpha 7 or beta 4 nACh receptor subunit genes. The a
ctions of Brn-3b on the alpha 2 subunit are thus in contrast to the in
hibitory actions of Brn-3b on several promoters that are activated by
Brn-3a. The different actions of the Brn-3 POU factors on the range of
nACh receptor genes tested suggests that the novel stimulation of the
alpha 2 subunit by Brn-3b is specific to this subunit and not a gener
al feature of nACh receptor genes.