The human reduced folate carrier (hRFC) is reported to be regulated by up to seven alternatively spliced noncoding exons (A1, A2, A, B, C, D, and E). Noncoding exon and promoter usage was analyzed in RNAs from 27 childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) specimens by real-time PCR and/or 5 rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5 RACE) assay. By real-time PCR, total hRFC transcripts in ALL spanned a 289-fold range. Over 90% of hRFC transcripts were transcribed with A1, A2, and B 5 untranslated regions (UTRs). Analysis of 5 RACE clones showed that the A1 ؉ A2 5UTRs contained A1 sequence alone or a fusion of A1 and A2, implying the existence of a single, alternatively spliced 1021-bp A1/A2 noncoding region. High frequency sequence polymorphisms (AGG deletion, C/T transition) identified in the A1/A2 region by 5RACE were confirmed in normal DNAs. By reporter assays in HepG2 hepatoma and Jurkat leukemia cells, A1/A2 promoter activity was localized to a 134-bp minimal region. Translation from an upstream AUG in the A1/A2 noncoding region in-frame with the normal translation start resulted in synthesis of a larger (ϳ7 kDa) hRFC protein with transport properties altered from those for wild-type hRFC. Although there was no effect on transcript or protein stabilities, in vitro translation from A1/A2 transcripts was decreased compared with those with the B 5UTR. Our results document the importance of the hRFC A1/A2 upstream region in childhood ALL and an intricate transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of hRFC-A1/A2 mRNAs. Furthermore, they suggest that use of the A1/A2 5UTR may confer a transport phenotype distinct from the other 5UTRs due to altered translation efficiency and transport properties.

The hRFC (human reduced folate carrier) is ubiquitously but differentially expressed in human tissues and its levels are regulated by up to seven non-coding regions (A1, A2, A, B, C, D and E) and at least four promoters. For the hRFC-B basal promoter, regulation involves binding of Sp (specificity protein) transcription factors to a critical GC-box. By transiently transfecting HT1080 cells with 5'- and 3'-deletion constructs spanning 1057 bp of upstream sequence, a transcriptionally important region was localized to 158 bp flanking the transcriptional start sites. By gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, USF (upstream stimulatory factor), Sp1 and Ikaros-related proteins were bound to consensus elements (one E-box, two GC-box and three Ikaros) within this region. The functional importance of these elements was confirmed by transient tranfections of HT1080 cells with hRFC-B reporter constructs in which they were mutated, and by co-transfections of Drosophila Mel-2 cells with wild-type hRFC-B promoter and expression constructs for USF1, USF2a, Sp1 and Ikaros 2 and 8. Both USF1 and Sp1 proteins transactivated the hRFC-B promoter. Sp1 combined with USF1 resulted in a synergistic transactivation. Identical results were obtained with USF2a. Ikaros 2 was a repressor of hRFC-B promoter activity whose effects were partly reversed by the dominant-negative Ikaros 8. In HT1080 cells, transfection with Ikaros 2 decreased endogenous hRFC-B transcripts, whereas USF1 and Sp1 increased transcript levels. Ikaros 2 also decreased reporter gene activity and levels of acetylated chromatin associated with the endogenous promoter. Collectively, these results identify transcriptionally important regions in the hRFC-B promoter that include multiple GC-box, Ikaros and E-box elements. Our results also suggest that co-operative interactions between transcription factors Sp1 and USF are essential for high-level hRFC-B transactivation and imply that these effects are modulated by the family of Ikaros proteins and by histone acetylation.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Down syndrome (DS) children has several unique features including a predominance of the acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMkL) phenotype, higher event-free survivals compared to non-DS children using cytosine arabinoside (ara-C)/anthracycline-based protocols and a uniform presence of somatic mutations in the X-linked transcription factor gene, GATA1. Several chromosome 21-localized transcription factor oncogenes including ETS2 may contribute to the unique features of DS AMkL. ETS2 transcripts measured by real-time RT-PCR were 1.8-and 4.1-fold, respectively, higher in DS and non-DS megakaryoblasts than those in non-DS myeloblasts. In a doxycycline-inducible erythroleukemia cell line, K562pTet-on/ETS2, induction of ETS2 resulted in an erythroid to megakaryocytic phenotypic switch independent of GATA1 levels. Microarray analysis of doxycycline-induced and doxycycline-uninduced cells revealed an upregulation by ETS2 of cytokines (for example, interleukin 1 and CSF2) and transcription factors (for example, TAL1), which are key regulators of megakaryocytic differentiation. In the K562pTet-on/ ETS2 cells, ETS2 induction conferred differences in sensitivities to ara-C and daunorubicin, depending on GATA1 levels. These results suggest that ETS2 expression is linked to the biology of AMkL in both DS and non-DS children, and that ETS2 acts by regulating expression of hematopoietic lineage and transcription factor genes involved in erythropoiesis and megakaryopoiesis, and in chemotherapy sensitivities.

The human RFC (hRFC) gene is regulated by five major 5' non-coding exons, characterized by alternate transcription start sites and splice forms. The result is up to 14 hRFC transcripts for which different 5' untranslated regions (UTRs) are fused to a common coding sequence. By in vitro translation assays with hRFC constructs corresponding to the major transcript forms, most of the forms were translated poorly. Upon expression of the 5'UTR-hRFC constructs in hRFC-null HeLa cells, a range of steady state hRFC proteins and transcripts were detected that reflected relative transcript stabilities and, to a lesser extent, translation efficiencies. Transcripts including 5' UTRs derived from non-coding exon A encoded a modified hRFC protein translated from an upstream initiation site. When this modified hRFC protein was expressed in hRFC-null K562 cells, there were only minor differences in surface targeting, stability, or transport function from wild type hRFC. Our results demonstrate an important role for posttranscriptional determinants of cellular hRFC levels and activity.