Synergy between the NF-E1 erythroid-specific transcription factor and the CACCC factor in the erythroid-specific promoter of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene.

A 114-base-pair promoter fragment of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene functioned in an erythroid-specific manner in transient transfection experiments. Site-directed mutagenesis of the binding site for the erythroid-specific transcription factor (NF-E1) or an adjacent CACCC motif abolished the promoter activity. Increasing the spacing between these sites progressively reduced promoter activity, but there was no evidence that a critical alignment of the two factors on the DNA helix was required.