THE ERE-LIKE SEQUENCE FROM THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE TESTIS SPECIFIC HSP70-RELATED GENE IS NOT ESTROGEN RESPONSIVE

The 5′flanking region of the hsp70-related gene which is specifically expressed in rat and mouse spermatocytes contains the GGTCAnnnCGACC sequence closely resembling the palindromic consensus ERE (estrogen responsive element, GGTCAnnnTGACC). We used a transient expression assay to study whether this ERE-like sequence can transfer estrogen responsiveness either to heterologous or homologous promoters linked to a reporter CAT gene. We found that the GGTCAnnnCGACC sequence either as an isolated element or in its natural sequence context does not respond to hormone stimulation in MCF-7 and Fe33 cells. This observation points to the importance of the T-nucleotide in a right half-palindrome of ERE for ligand-dependent activation of transcription. © 1992 Academic Press Ltd.