Activation of the human asparagine synthetase gene by the amino acid response and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response pathways occurs by commongenomic elements
Ip. Barbosa-tessmann et al., Activation of the human asparagine synthetase gene by the amino acid response and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response pathways occurs by commongenomic elements, J BIOL CHEM, 275(35), 2000, pp. 26976-26985
The human asparagine synthetase (AS) gene is transcriptionally regulated by
amino acid deprivation (amino acid response, AAR) and the endoplasmic reti
culum stress response (ERSR), also known as the unfolded protein response p
athway. The results reported here document the novel observation that induc
tion of the AS gene by the AAR and ERSR pathways occurs via the same set of
genomic elements. Data supporting this conclusion include transient transf
ection of AS promoter/reporter gene constructs that illustrate that the tra
nscriptional control elements used by both pathways are contained with nucl
eotides -111 to -34 of the AS pro meter. In vivo footprinting analysis of t
his region identified six specific protein-binding sites. Within two of the
se sites, altered footprinting was observed following amino acid or glucose
deprivation, but the patterns were identical for both the AAR and the ERSR
pathway. Site-directed mutation of individual nucleotides within these two
binding sites confirmed their importance for regulated transcription, and
none of the mutations resulted in loss of response of only one pathway, Nei
ther of these two sites corresponds to a recently identified ERSR cis-eleme
nt, nor do they contain consensus sequences for known transcription factors
, Collectively, the data document that there are at least two independent t
ranscriptional mechanisms for gene activation by the ERSR pathway, one of w
hich terminates at the same genomic elements used by the AAR pathway.