Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is critical for degradation of several im
portant fatty acid amides including anandamide, an endocannabinoid, as well
as oleamide, a sleep-inducing factor. These compounds play roles in divers
e physiological processes ranging from memory and learning to the regulatio
n of blood pressure. The mechanisms that regulate FAAH expression have not
been characterized. A 5'-region of the mouse FAAH with promoter activity wa
s isolated from 1.8 kbp of genomic sequence. Characterization of +1 of tran
scription of FAAH by RNA ligase mediated-rapid amplification of cDNA ends s
howed that FAAH mRNA is transcribed from multiple transcription start sites
lacking a TATA-box element. Functional analysis of the FAAH upstream seque
nce fused to a luciferase reporter gene revealed a FAAH-promoter construct
with tissue specific activity. A 674-bp FAAH-promoter construct was active
in N18TG2 (N18) neuro-blastoma cells and C6 glioma cells, lines that have e
ndogenous FAAH activity. The same 674-bp FAAH-promoter construct was not ac
tive in C2C12 or L6 myogenic cells, two lines that do not have FAAH activit
y. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.