Characterization of the rat osteocalcin gene: stimulation of promoter activity by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

Osteocalcin is an abundant noncollagenous protein in bone, and its synthesis is stimulated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3]. In this study, the rat osteocalcin gene was isolated, sequenced, and found to be a single-copy gene that is highly conserved between human and rat. Northern blot analysis of RNAs from a number of rat tissues revealed osteocalcin mRNA only in calvariae, consistent with bone-specific expression of osteocalcin. In order to investigate promoter activity and its modulation by 1,25(OH)2D3, plasmids containing the osteocalcin promoter region linked to the reporter enzyme bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) were used to transfect rat osteosarcoma ROS 17/2.8 cells, which express osteocalcin endogenously, and UMR 106 cells, which lack osteocalcin expression. Transfected ROS 17/2.8 cells exhibited a higher basal CAT activity than UMR 106 cells. Moreover, 1,25(OH)2D3 stimulated the CAT expression 5-10-fold only in ROS 17/2.8 cells and not in UMR 106 cells. By use of unidirectional deletion analysis, a domain strongly responsive to 1,25(OH)2D3 was identified between bases -1035 and -871 upstream from the site of transcription initiation, while a weakly responsive region was found further downstream.