TISSUE-SPECIFIC CHROMATIN STRUCTURE AT THE HEPATOCYTE GROWTH-FACTOR SCATTER FACTOR GENE PROMOTER

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a recently charact erised molecule with many remarkable functions. Its involvement in imp ortant processes such as cell proliferation, cell migration, morphogen esis and organ development implies that its activity should be tightly regulated. To understand the molecular mechanisms controlling HGF/SF transcription, we have analysed DNaseI hypersensitive sites (DHS) alon g rat and human HGF/SF genes in various tissues and cell types. We ide ntified five DHS along the rat gene, two in the 5'-flanking region and three in the first intron. These sites are only found in rat tissues and rat cell lines, which express HGF/SF. The strongest hypersensitive site maps to a region that corresponds to the promoter by start site analysis. A single tissue-specific DHS is present in human cell lines that express HGF/SF and corresponds to the promoter region. Our result s suggest that chromatin accessibility plays a major role in the regul ation of HGF/SF transcription regulation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.