THE PROMOTER OF AN ANDROGEN-DEPENDENT GENE IN THE HAMSTER FLANK ORGAN

Hamster flank organs are useful for studying androgen-dependent growth of hair follicles and sebaceous glands. A cDNA clone (FAR-17a) was is olated from the hamster flank organ, whose expression was highly sensi tive to androgen. The mRNA level of this gene was reduced after castra tion but reappeared after testosterone treatment. To elucidate the mec hanism of expression of this gene regulated by androgen we isolated a genomic clone, from a hamster genomic library, that includes the promo ter and upsteam region. The promoter region was used to drive a lucife rase reporter gene in Cos 7 cells. This construct was activated five t o six times higher over a control plasmid lacking the promoter region. We tested the effects of testosterone by transfection of the reporter plasmid into androgen dependent SC-3 cells. The results showed up to fivefold stimulation after the addition of androgen. The sequence of t his promoter region was analyzed and the transcription factor binding sites were predicted. Since no obvious androgen responsive elements we re included in the promoter region, we suggest that the stimulation of the reporter construct has to be mediated indirectly by androgen-depe ndent transcription factor(s). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.