Positive and negative regulation of the human insulin gene by multiple trans-acting factors

Tissue-specific expression of the human insulin gene is regulated by cis-acting DNA elements 5' to the transcription start site. Deletion of the 5' region of the human insulin gene between nucleotides -279 and -258 caused a 25-fold rise in transcriptional activity whereas further deletion to nucleotide -229 reduced transcription activity 25-fold. In vitro analysis of protein binding in the 5' regulatory region revealed: (i) the major positive regulatory region (-258 to -229) contains a protein-binding site (GC-II) with 75% sequence identity to a motif in the rat insulin I gene, shown to be a powerful transcriptional activator. GC-II motif-binding factors are not restricted to insulin-producing cell lines. (ii) An islet cell-specific factor binds between nucleotides -217 to -210 (CT-II motif). (iii) A region between nucleotides -153 and -127, containing two identical motifs, GG-I and GG-II was also revealed. GG-I-binding factors are ubiquitous, whereas binding to the GG-II motif is β cell-specific. (iv) A ubiquitous factor binds to a motif between nucleotides -179 and -183, identical to a half-site for the cyclic nucleotide regulatory element. (v) The negative regulatory element between -279 and -258 contains overlapping binding sites for at least 3 protein factors, with differing cell-specific distributions and can independently down-regulate thymidine kinase promoter activity in a β cell line.