Functional analysis of the human lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase gene promoter.

In this report cis-acting sequences that direct transcription of the lecithin choleterol acyl transferase (LCAT) gene were identified. To assay the promoter activity, fragments from the 5' flanking region were fused upstream to the cloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene and transfected into Hep3B and HeLa cells. The gene sequences were active in both cell lines. A minimal promoter comprising only 71 bp is still fully active and contains a TATA box, a LFAI motif and two Sp1 binding sites. The activity of the promoter was entirely dependent on the Sp1 sites.