Cloning, characterization, and regulation of the human type II IMP dehydrogenase gene

Human type II inosine 5{prime}-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH, EC 1.1.1.205) is the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo guanine nucleotide biosynthesis. Regulated IMPDH activity is associated with cellular proliferation, transformation, and differentiation. The authors cloned and sequenced the entire gene for type II IMPDH and here provide details regarding the organization of the gene and the characterization of its promoter. The gene spans approximately 5 kb and is disrupted by 12 introns. The transcriptional start sites were determined by S1 nuclease mapping to be somewhat heterogeneous but predominated at 102 and 85 nucleotides from the translational initiation codon. Through the use of heterologous gene constructs and transient transfection assays, a minimal promoter from {minus}206 to {minus}85 was defined. This promoter is TATA-less and contains several transcription factor motifs including four potential Sp 1 binding sites. The minimal promoter is GC-rich (69%) and resembles a CpG island. Through the use of gel mobility shift assays, nuclear proteins were shown to specifically interact with this minimal promoter. Stable transfectants were used to demonstrate that the down-regulation of IMPDH gene expression in response to reduced cellular proliferation occurs by a transcriptional mechanism