Three sequence-specific DNA-protein complexes are formed with the same promoter element essential for expression of the rat somatostatin gene.

We identified three sequence-specific DNA-protein complexes which are formed after in vitro binding of nuclear extracts, derived from neuronal (CA-77, rat brain) or non-neuronal (HeLa) cells, to positions -70 to -29 of the rat somatostatin promoter. The protein(s) responsible for the formation of the three sequence-specific complexes was fractionated from rat brain whole cell extracts by DEAE-Sepharose chromatography. The critical contact residues of the factor(s) in each complex, as determined by methylation interference analyses, are located within positions -59 to -35, which is protected from DNase I digestion; these include the G residues of a TGACGTCA consensus also found in the cAMP-responsive human enkephalin (positions -105 to -76) and E1A-inducible adenovirus type 5 E3 (positions -72 to -42) promoters. Competition assays with these heterologous promoters reveal that the factor(s) of each complex displays approximately 50-fold greater affinity for the somatostatin promoter-binding site. Synthetic oligonucleotides spanning positions -70 to -29 of the somatostatin promoter and containing single-base substitutions of the G residues in the TGACGTCA consensus were utilized in competition assays. The G residues located in the center of the module are the most critical determinants in the formation of the three sequence-specific complexes. Deletions disrupting the TGACGTCA consensus abolish not only formation of the three complexes in vitro but also expression of the somatostatin promoter in vivo, suggesting that formation of one or more of these complexes is essential for transcription of the rat somatostatin gene.