CLONING AND STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE GENE ENCODING THE MURINE NUCLEAR RECEPTOR TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR, NURR1

NURR1 is an immediate early gene product and a member of the nuclear r eceptor superfamily of transcription factors. Using the NURR1 cDNA as a probe, we isolated the genomic DNA encoding NURR1 from a mouse 129Sv Ev genomic library. The NURR1 gene is approximately 6.2 kb long and is organized into 7 exons separated by 6 introns. Structural analysis of the NURR1 reveals that this gene shares a similar structure with that of the nuclear receptor NUR77/NGF1-B. As in NUR77, the promoter regio n of NURR1 lacks an identifiable TATA box, but is GC-rich. The proxima l promoter region also contains an ATF/CREB consensus binding site tha t may participate in cAMP-mediated induction of this immediate early g ene product. Isolation and structural characterization of the NURR1 ge ne provides information for further developmental and transcriptional regulation studies of this gene.