Characterization of a putative promoter region of the human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene: structural similarity to that of the DNA polymerase beta gene.

The 5'-flanking region of the human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene was isolated and characterized. The nucleotide sequence of a part of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene completely matched that of the cDNA. The transcriptional initiation sites (cap sites) of this gene, located about 166-bp upstream from the translational initiation site, were identified by S1 mapping analysis. Neither CAAT box nor TATA box was found within 500-bp upstream from the cap sites of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene. The 200-bp immediately upstream of the cap site had a high G+C content (76.5%) and contained double repeats of the sequence CCGCCC, putative Sp1 binding sites, and a palindromic structure. The 5'-flanking region of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene also showed promoter activity in chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assay and structural similarity to that of DNA polymerase beta gene.