CHARACTERIZATION OF THE 5' FLANKING REGION OF THE HUMAN FOLLICLE-STIMULATING-HORMONE RECEPTOR GENE

A genomic clone containing 2.3 kilobases (kb) of the 5' flanking regio n of the human follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) plus the t ranslated region of exon 1 and subsequent sequences of intron A has be en isolated and characterized. This portion of the 5' flanking region has neither a TATA nor a CCAAT box and shows features of promoters see n in ''housekeeping'' genes. Using RNAse protection multiple transcrip tional start sites could be identified, the major ones clustered betwe en -114 and -79 bp. Chimeras containing 1486 bp of the 5' flanking reg ion, or deletions thereof, expressed significant chloramphenicol acety ltransferase (CAT) activity when transiently transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), primary rat Sertoli and human granulosa-lutein ce lls. Deletion analyses indicated that a proximal promoter can be alloc ated to the region from -225 to -1 bp.