The Murine Interleukin-3 Receptor α Subunit Gene: Chromosomal Localization, Genomic Structure, and Promoter Function

• Published in: Blood 1995-03, Vol.85 (5), p.1246-1253
• Main Authors: Miyajima, Ikuko, Levitt, Lee, Hara, Takahiko, Bedell, Mary A., Copeland, Neal G., Jenkins, Nancy A., Miyajima, Atsushi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3T3 Cells; Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cell differentiation, maturation, development, hematopoiesis; Cell Line; Cell physiology; Chromosome Mapping; Exons; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Reporter; Genetic Linkage; Mast Cells; Mice - genetics; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular Sequence Data; Muridae - genetics; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Receptors, Interleukin-3 - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V85.5.1246.bloodjournal8551246

The interleukin-3 receptor (IL-3R) is composed of α and β subunits, members of the class I cytokine receptor family. Here we describe isolation and characterization of the chromosomal gene for the mouse IL-3R α subunit (mlL-3Rα). Whereas the human IL-3Rα gene is tightly linked with the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor α subunit (GM-CSFRα) gene in the pseudoautosomal region of the X and Y chromosomes, the mlL-3Rα gene (II3ra) is located in the proximal region of mouse chromosome 14, separated from the mouse GM-CSFRα gene, which is on chromosome 19. The mlL-3Rα gene spans about 10 kb and is divided into 12 exons. All the exon-intron boundaries possess the splicing junction consensus sequences (5'GT-AG3'), and the whole genomic structure is similar to those of the previously reported class I cytokine receptor genes. There are two major transcription initiation sites that are located at 215 and 188 nucleotides upstream of the initiator codon. The promoter region is GC-rich and contains potential binding sites for GATA, Ets, c-myb, Sp1, Ap-2, and G-C boxes, but not a typical TATA or CAAT sequence. A fusion gene containing 0.8 kb of the 5' noncoding sequence linked to the firefly luciferase gene directed the transcription in mouse mast cells but not in fibroblasts or T cells, suggesting that this promoter functions in a cell type-specific manner. Further sequential deletion of the 5' region suggests two potential regulatory regions for transcription of the mlL-3Rα gene.