We recently reported that delta 12-prostaglandin (PG) J2 caused various cells to synthesize heme oxygenase, HO-1 (Koizumi, T., Negishi, M., and Ichikawa, A. (1992) Prostaglandins 43, 121-131). Here we examined the molecular mechanism underlying the delta 12-PGJ2-induced HO-1 synthesis. delta 12-PGJ2 markedly stimulated the promoter activity of the 5'-flanking region of the rat HO-1 gene from -810 to +101 in rat basophilic leukemia cells. From functional analysis of various deletion mutant genes we found that the delta 12-PGJ2-responsive element was localized in a region from -690 to -660, containing an E-box motif, which was essential for the delta 12-PGJ2-stimulated promoter activity. When the region containing the delta 12-PGJ2-responsive element was combined with a heterologous promoter, SV40 promoter, in the sense and antisense direction, the element showed an enhancer activity in response to delta 12-PGJ2. Gel mobility shift assays demonstrated that delta 12-PGJ2 specifically stimulated the binding of two nuclear proteins to the E-box motif of this region. These results indicate that delta 12-PGJ2 induces the expression of the rat HO-1 gene through nuclear protein binding to a specific element having an E-box motif.

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