E. Myslinski et al., An unusually compact external promoter for RNA polymerase III transcription of the human H1RNA gene, NUCL ACID R, 29(12), 2001, pp. 2502-2509
H1 RNA, the RNA component of the human nuclear RNase P, is encoded by a uni
que gene transcribed by RNA polymerase III (Pol III). In this work, cis-act
ing elements and trans-acting factors involved in human H1 gene transcripti
on were characterized by transcription assays of mutant templates and DNA a
ssays of recombinant proteins. Four elements, lying within 100 bp of 5'-fla
nking sequences, were defined to be essential for maximal in vitro and in v
ivo expression, consisting of the octamer, Staf, proximal sequence element
(PSE) and TATA motifs. These are also encountered in the promoter elements
of vertebrate snRNA genes, where the first two constitute the distal sequen
ce element (DSE). In all the genes examined so far, the DSE is distant from
the PSE and TATA box that compose the basal promoter. However, we observed
a fundamental difference in the organization of the H1 RNA and snRNA gene
promoters with respect to the relative spacing of the DSE and PSE. Indeed,
the H1 promoter is unusually compact, with the octamer motif and Staf bindi
ng site adjacent to the PSE and TATA motifs. It thus appears that the human
RNase P RNA gene has adopted a unique promoter strategy placing the DSE im
mediately adjacent to the basal promoter.