Abstract

Aromatic hydrocarbon (AH) effects are mediated by binding of the AH receptor and its heterodimeric partner aromatic hydrocarbon nuclear translocator to specific response elements on DNA (AHREs). CYP1A2 expression is induced by AHs, yet AHREs have been identified in CYP1A2 genes of only two species and their functional role assessed only in the human gene. There have been few analyses of CYP1A2 gene regulation in nonhepatic cells. To gain further insight into CYP1A2 regulation, we cloned the initial 1.2 kilobases (kb) of the guinea pig CYP1A2 gene 5′-flanking region and characterized CYP1A2 expression in guinea pig colon adenocarcinoma cells (GPC16). Two putative AHRE sites were identified (-830 and -575 bp). They are considerably more proximal than the functional AHRE found in the human CYP1A2 gene (-2.5 kb). GPC16 cells expressed CYP1A2 after treatment with AH, enabling characterization of the putative AHRE sites in a homologous cell line. Double-stranded oligonucleotide probes, corresponding to each putative AHRE, bound in an AH-induced and specific manner to nuclear proteins prepared from GPC16 cells. In transfection analyses, only the distal site mediated AH-induced reporter gene activity. Mutation of this site suppressed AH-induced activity, supporting the concept that it is involved in AH-mediated induction of CYP1A2. However, the low level of AH-induction by the wild type suggests that other factors modulate AH-response by the CYP1A2 gene.