Nucleotide sequence of the 5'-flanking region of the rat type II hexokinase gene

Sequencing of cDNA and proximal promoter of equine hexokinase II gene

In order to investigate the utilization of glucose in equine skeletal muscle, we determined the coding and proximal promoter sequences of the hexokinase type II (HKII) gene in thoroughbred horse, Grevy's zebra and Hartmann's mountain zebra. The deduced amino acid sequence of thoroughbred horse HKII showed 100, 100, 94.4, 92.7 and 92.6% identities with Grevy's zebra, Hartmann's mountain zebra, human, mouse and rat HKIIs, respectively. In equine HKIIs, specific amino acid substitutions, Ile 159 and Arg 610, were found in the potential binding site for glucose. In addition, the nucleotide sequence of the equine proximal promoter has a number of conserved putative binding sites for transcription factor.

The human gene for the type III isozyme of hexokinase: structure, basal promoter, and evolution

The structure of the gene for the Type III isozyme of human hexokinase is nearly identical to that of previously characterized genes for other isozymes of hexokinase. The most striking difference is that the 5'-untranslated sequence and the initial coding sequence are contained in two exons in the Type III hexokinase gene but in a single exon in genes for the other isozymes. Sequence at the transcriptional start site for rat Type III hexokinase (S. Sebastian, J. A. White, and J. E. Wilson, 1999, J. Biol. Chem. 274, 31700-31706) is conserved in the human gene, as is an Oct-1 site, in reverse orientation, approximately 30 bp upstream from the start site. This site has been shown to regulate transcription of both human and rat genes for Type III hexokinase. Comparison of the genes for the various mammalian isozymes of hexokinase indicates that a major feature in the evolution of this isozyme family has been acquisition of alternative first exons.

Characterization of the rat type III hexokinase gene promoter. A functional octamer 1 motif is critical for basal promoter activity

A 1532-base pair 5'-flanking region of the gene encoding rat type III hexokinase has been cloned and sequenced. The total sequence includes positions -1548 to -17 (A of the translational start ATG as position +1). Using luciferase reporter constructs transfected into PC12 (rat pheochromocytoma) and L2 (rat lung) cells, basal promoter activity has been associated with sequence between -182 and -89. This includes a single transcriptional start site, an adenine at position -134 identified by primer extension. Together with previously cloned cDNA sequence, this accounts for an mRNA of approximately 3.9 kilobases, found by Northern blotting of RNA from rat lung and kidney. Sequence upstream of the transcriptional start site was devoid of canonical TATA and CAAT elements. An octamer 1 (Oct-1) binding site, located between positions -166 and -159 was shown by deletion analysis and site-directed mutation to be critical for promoter activity. Nuclear extracts from PC12 cells contained a protein (or proteins) specifically binding the octamer sequence, and supershift experiments with anti-Oct-1 indicated involvement of this ubiquitously expressed transcription factor in the complex. Sequence including the Oct-1 site and immediately adjacent regions was protected from DNase I digestion in footprinting experiments with nuclear extracts from PC12 cells. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction indicated that levels of type III hexokinase mRNA in rat tissues increased in the order brain < liver < lung approximately kidney; immunoblotting indicated that type III hexokinase protein in these tissues increased in a similar manner.

Def-2, -3, -6 and -8, novel mouse genes differentially expressed in the haemopoietic system

To identify developmentally regulated genes during myeloid differentiation, a self-inactivating retroviral gene-trap vector carrying a beta-galactosidase-neomycin (SA/lacZ/neo) fusion gene was constructed and used to infect myeloid progenitor cells (FDCP-Mix A4). G418-resistant and beta-galactosidase positive cell lines (gene-trap integration [GTI] clones) were established and induced to differentiate in vitro into either macrophages or granulocytes. Expression of the trapped loci was monitored at a single-cell level by analysing the mature cell types for beta-galactosidase activity. All 37 GTI clones tested showed down-regulation either during granulocyte or both granulocytic and macrophage differentiation. The endogenous coding regions fused to the SA/lacZ/neo reporter gene were isolated from eight clones. Molecular analysis revealed that half of them represented novel mouse genes (def-2, -3, -6 and -8) which we confirmed to be differentially expressed in primary haemopoietic tissues. Database searches revealed no significant similarities for def-2 (associated with haemopoietic progenitors) and def-8 (expressed most strongly in peripheral leucocytes). Def-6, which is down-regulated upon the differentiation into myeloid as well as erythroid lineages, was found to be closely related but not identical with the recently described B-cell-specific switch recombinase SWAP-70. Def-3, which is down-regulated upon differentiation into granulocytes but expressed in progenitor cells and macrophages, defines a novel family of RNA binding proteins.

Quantitative determinations of the steady state transcript levels of hexokinase isozymes and glucose transporter isoforms in normal rat tissues and the malignant tumor cell line AH130

The steady state transcript levels of the four hexokinase (HK) isozymes and four glucose transporter (GLUT) isoforms were determined quantitatively by Northern analysis of RNA samples from rat tissues using synthetic fragments of the RNAs encoding the HK isozymes and GLUT isoforms. Results showed that the levels of HK isozyme transcripts were low in rat tissues, the level of that most highly expressed, the type I isozyme (HKI), in the brain being 0.025% of the total poly(A)+ RNA. A good correlation was found between the reported HK activities and the total amounts of transcripts encoding all HK isozymes in various tissues, showing that the HK activities in tissues can be estimated from the total amount of transcripts encoding HK isozymes. The proposed associated expressions of HK isozymes and GLUT isoforms in particular tissues were confirmed at their transcript levels. The steady state transcript levels of type II HK and the type 1 GLUT isoform in the malignant tumor cell line AH130 were also determined quantitatively.

Source of ATP for hexokinase-catalyzed glucose phosphorylation in tumor cells: dependence on the rate of oxidative phosphorylation relative to that of extramitochondrial ATP generation

We isolated highly intact and tightly coupled mitochondria from the rat ascites hepatoma cell line AH130 by disruption of the cell membrane by nitrogen cavitation. These isolated mitochondria were found to have essentially the same functional properties as rat liver mitochondria, but unlike the latter, hexokinase (HK) was bound to their membrane. Using the tumor mitochondrial preparation, we examined the source of ATP for phosphorylation of glucose by HK under conditions in which intra- and extramitochondrial ATP-generation systems operated separately or together. Results showed that the membrane-bound HK utilized ATP derived from the most efficiently operating ATP generation system, i.e., oxidative phosphorylation. However, when the rate of extramitochondrial ATP generation was much greater than that of oxidative phosphorylation, HK used ATP from the extramitochondrial ATP-generation system.

Isolation and characterization of genomic and cDNA clones encoding mouse senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30)

We isolated and characterized genomic and cDNA clones encoding mouse senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30), the protein amounts of which are known to decrease with aging in the livers of rats. This decrease in the expression of SMP30 is independent of androgen. SMP30 is a calcium binding protein also called regucalcin. The expression of SMP30 in aged mouse liver and 5' flanking sequence of the genome were also characterized. The cDNA contained an open reading frame encoding 299 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 33-404. The amino acid sequence of mouse SMP30 showed 94% similarity to rat SMP30 and 89% to human SMP30. Northern blot analysis specifically detected mouse SMP30 transcript in the liver and also confirmed its significant decrease with aging. Analysis of the murine genomic clone revealed that SMP30 was organized by seven exons and six introns, spanning approx. 17.5 kb. Primer extension analysis revealed that two major transcription initiation sites were localized at 101 bp and 102 bp upstream from ATG translation initiation codon. The nucleotide (nt) sequence of 5' flanking region showed a TATA-like sequence, a CAAT box, and SP-1 sites at nt -29, -72 and -169 in the promoter region, respectively. Interestingly, we found two classes of C/EBP sites which are highly and constantly expressed in the liver, in addition to AP-2, AP-1, GATA-1, AP-1/GRE and GAGA sites. These results provide important clues for understanding the regulatory mechanism of SMP30 gene expression and its relationship to aging.

Identification and characterization of basal and cyclic AMP response elements in the promoter of the rat hexokinase II gene

Hexokinases catalyze the phosphorylation of glucose and initiate cellular glucose metabolism. Hexokinase II (HKII) is the principal hexokinase isoform in skeletal muscle, heart, and adipose tissue. Isoproterenol and exogenous cyclic AMP (cAMP) increase HKII gene transcription in L6 myotubes. Various segments of the HKII promoter that direct the expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene were transfected into L6 myotubes to identify basal and cAMP response elements. The 5'-flanking region that extends 90 base pairs upstream of the transcription start site includes a CCAAT box and a cAMP response element (CRE); both contribute to basal promoter activity and each provides an independent, maximal response to cAMP. An inverted CCAAT motif, or Y box, located just upstream of the CCAAT box, contributes to basal promoter activity but is not involved in the cAMP response. Homo- and heterodimers composed of the CRE-binding protein and activating transcription factor-1 bind specifically to the CRE. The Y box and the CCAAT box specifically bind the factor NF-Y (also known as CBF).

Alteration of enzyme function of the type II hexokinase C-terminal half on replacements of restricted regions by corresponding regions of glucokinase

To know the structural properties responsible for the enzymic activity of the 50-kDa C-terminal half of type II hexokinase (HKII-C) derived from rat hepatoma cell line AH130, we constructed cDNAs of HKII-C and its recombinants in which restricted regions containing highly conserved sequences, referred to as regions 2 and 3, were replaced by the corresponding regions of glucokinase. The binding domains of ATP and glucose were proposed to exist in these regions, respectively. Then, the HKII-C and chimera HKII-Cs were overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)pLysS. They all exhibited hexokinase activity, and their activities were inhibited by glucose-6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) competitively for ATP and uncompetitively for glucose. The replacement of region 2 of HKII-C by the corresponding region of glucokinase increased the affinity for glucose and decreased the affinity for Glc-6-P, but it did not significantly affect the affinity for ATP. In contrast, the replacement of region 3 did not cause an appreciable change in hexokinase activity. These findings suggest that region 2 is associated with the binding of ATP and Glc-6-P, and that the latter binding site is located close to the ATP binding site. In addition, region 2 was suggested to be directly related with the binding of glucose and other hexoses.