Somatostatin gene upstream enhancer element activated by a protein complex consisting of CREB, Isl-1-like, and alpha-CBF-like transcription factors.

The expression of the genes encoding the hormones glucagon, insulin, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide in the endocrine islets of the pancreas is regulated in a cell-specific manner, defining four distinct cellular phenotypes (A-, B-, D-, and F-cells, respectively). Binding of nuclear proteins to cognate DNA sequences within cis-acting regulatory elements mediates the transcriptional events that result in the cell-specific activation or repression of gene expression. In a parallel study, we describe the functional properties of the SMS-UE, a pancreatic islet D-cell specific enhancer element that regulates the expression of the somatostatin gene and contains two interdependent domains, A and B. In the studies described herein, we have characterized the nuclear proteins that recognize the SMS-UE. Domain A of the SMS-UE is a DNA enhancer sequence that is identical to that bound by the ubiquitously distributed CCAAT box-binding protein alpha-CBF, a transcription factor that regulates the expression of the human chorionic gonadotrophin alpha-subunit gene. The B-domain, on the other hand, binds an islet cell-specific protein with characteristics similar to those of Isl-1, a transcriptional activator protein that binds to the E2 enhancer of the rat insulin-1 gene. In addition, the SMS-UE binds transcription factor CREB but not CREM, the close homolog of CREB, on a site adjacent to, or overlapping, the 3' end of domain B. We show that the carboxyl-terminal bZIP domain of CREB binds to the cAMP response element of the somatostatin gene but is not sufficient for binding to the SMS-UE, and we present evidence suggesting that CREB.SMS-UE binding requires stabilization by a region of the protein located within the transactivation domain.