Binding of SRF to the <i>STARS</i> promoter.

<p>A. STARS expression activates reporter gene constructs containing the conserved serum response element (SRE). Luciferase activity is shown for two constructs upstream of the <i>STARS</i> transcription start site. B. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed with formaldehyde cross-linked chromatin isolated from feline adult cardiomyocytes. Asterisk (*) denotes PCR primer locations. Immunoprecipitations were performed without primary antibody (No Ab) as a negative control, with anti-SRF antibody. Input DNA is also shown as a positive control. Similar results were observed in four independent experiments. C. The SRF inhibitor CCG-1423 (1 µM) abolished <i>STARS</i> −365/+60 promoter-reporter activity in H9c2 cells (n = 3 experiments, in triplicates).