Assessment of promoter elements of the germ cell-specific proacrosin gene

The testis‐specific proacrosin gene encodes for a fertilization‐promoting protein. In mouse and rat it is first transcribed in late pachytene spermatocytes and revealed to be translationally regulated. Former proacrosin promoter studies demonstrated that elements necessary for conducting a stage and temporal‐specific expression of the gene are located within 0.9 kb upstream of the translational start codon. In the present study we analyzed putative cis‐acting elements located in this promoter region for their specific binding properties to nuclear factors assumed to be involved in proacrosin gene regulation. Supplement of specific antibodies in electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) revealed that two Y‐box proteins and the transcription factors CREM and YY1 interact with proacrosin promoter elements. The Y‐box proteins, antigenically related to the frog Y‐box proteins FRGY1 and FRGY2, bound to the Y‐box (55–66 bp upstream of the ATG initiation codon) in brain and testis nuclear extracts, respectively. CREM bound to three elements (30–37, 252–259, and 717–724 bp upstream of ATG). The ubiquitous transcription factor YY1 bound to a conserved element in the central proacrosin promoter (457–473 bp upstream of ATG) and showed almost germ cell‐specific truncates in EMSA. These results suggest that the identified factors are involved in proacrosin gene regulation. J. Cell. Biochem. 83: 155–162, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.