• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.329-334
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• 2003

The present study was aimed at investigating the regulatory mechanism in tissue-specific expression of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) gene. The expression of IGF-I gene was determined by a solution hybridization/RNase protection assay using total RNA prepared from rat liver or brain of various ages. The levels of IGF-I transcripts were increased in liver gradually after birth, but decreased in brain. By using an oligonucleotide (FRE) corresponding to the C/EBP binding site of the rat IGF-I exon 1, multiple forms of C/EBP${\alpha}$ and C/EBP${\beta}$ proteins, which have DNA-binding activity, were detected in the rat liver or brain. Western immunoblot and southwestern analyses show that p42$\^$C/EBP${\alpha}$/, p38$\^$C/EBP${\alpha}$/, p35$\^$C/EBP${\alpha}$/, p38$\^$C/EBP${\beta}$/, and p35$\^$C/EBP${\beta}$ form specific complexes with the IGF-I exon 1 oligonucleotide in liver nuclear extract and that p42$\^$C/EBP${\alpha}$/ and p38$\^$C/EBP${\beta}$/ form complexes in brain. These data suggest that the formation of FRE-C/EBP isoform complexes may play important roles in the tissue-specific regulation of IGF-I gene expression.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2002

The present study was aimed at investigating the metabolic regulation of insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-I) expression in fasting animals. The expression of IGF-I gene was determined by a solution hybridization/RNase protection assay using total RNA from control, 4d-fasting, and 2d-fasting-refed rats. The levels of IGF-I transcripts were reduced in 4d-fasting than in control by decreasing its transcriptional rate, which was measured through nuclear nun-on assay. DNase I footprinting, which was performed using nuclear extracts from fasting rat, demonstrated protein binding to a sequence that extended from +179 to +210 (termed region B). These data suggest that the expression of IGF-I is transcriptionally regulated through DNA-liver enriched protein binding in a sequence which is located downstream from major transcription initiation site of IGF-I gene.