Sequences involved in brain-specific in vitro transcription from the core promoter of the mouse myelin basic protein gene.

In the previous study, we have shown that a short DNA stretch from -35 to -17 in the core promoter of the mouse myelin basic protein (MBP) gene is mainly responsible for brain-specificity in in vitro transcription. In this study, we found from intensive mutation analysis that the TATA-box sequence at -34 is not critical, but sequences downstream from the TATA-box especially around -20 were important for brain-specificity. The existence of a tissue-specific factor for the MBP core promoter different from the TATA-box-binding factor TFIID is implicated.