Objective: To investigate the effect of the human A gamma-globin gene-173 T-->C mutation on the binding of transacting factors to the promoter and the activity of the promoter.
Methods: Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and transient transfection assay were used in this study.
Results: The A gamma-globin gene-173 T-->C mutation decreased the affinity of GATA-1 to the mutant promoter fragment (-201(-)-158) 96% (P < 0.01) and the binding of Oct-1 to the same DNA fragment 55% (P < 0.05). The activity of the mutant promoter was 2-fold (P < 0.05) as strong as that of the normal one in MELGM979 cells. The mutant and the normal promoters exhibited basically same activities in K562 and Hela cells.
Conclusions: The -173 T-->C mutation decreased dramatically the binding of GATA-1, implicating that GA-TA-1 may act as a negative regulator of A gamma-globin gene in adults. The -173 T-->C mutation may enhance the activity of A gamma-globin gene promoter in the adult erythroid cell environment.