Identification of a second promoter which drives the expression of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in rat kidney and epididymis.

In rat, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is encoded by multiple mRNAs (mRNAI, mRNAII, mRNAIII, and mRNAIV) that differ only in their 5' untranslated regions and are transcribed from a single-copy gene. Using oligonucleotides designed from the 5' untranslated sequences of the GGT mRNAII and mRNAIII, we amplified a 3.4-kb genomic sequence which contains the promoter region for mRNAII. The sequence flanking the two initiation start sites for mRNAII contains consensus motifs for several potential regulatory proteins and a TATA-like element at the expected position 26 bp upstream from the predominant start site. The sequence from positions -528 to +72 associated with the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene drives a promoter activity in LLC-PK1, a pig kidney cell line. Deletion analysis revealed that the region from nucleotides -528 to -322 mediates an activation of the promoter activity, whereas the sequence from -322 to -114 has a negative effect. Furthermore, the structural organization of the 5' end of the GGT gene reveals that the GGT mRNAIII is transcribed from a third promoter located upstream from the promoter II on the GGT gene. By Northern blot analysis, the promoter II was found to be expressed only in the kidney and in the epididymis. We also identified two new mRNA species which are expressed in the H5 hepatoma cells. Therefore, the GGT gene expression reveals a strong tissue- or cell-specific pattern which is based on the transcription of several mRNA species from multiple promoters.