Faithful cell-cycle regulation of a recombinant mouse histone H4 gene is controlled by sequences in the 3'-terminal part of the gene.

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We have analyzed the expression of endogenous histone H4 genes and of a newly introduced H4 gene in 21-Tb cells, a mouse mastocytoma cell-cycle mutant. Endogenous H4 mRNAs were less abundant by a factor of 120-180 in G1-arrested than in exponentially multiplying cells. However, H4 transcription rates were only decreased by a factor of 3 under these conditions, as determined by in vitro elongation of nascent transcripts. This indicates that post-transcriptional control of histone mRNA levels is important, in accord with published data. We introduced a mouse H4 gene, modified by a 12-base-pair (bp) insertion in its coding sequence, into 21-Tb cells by DNA-mediated gene transfer. The levels of transcripts from this gene were regulated in parallel with those of the endogenous genes. Moreover, fusion of the simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter to a 463-bp fragment containing the 3'-terminal half of the mouse H4 gene, including 230 bp of spacer sequences, led to the regulated expression of SV40/H4 fusion RNA. However, a small proportion of SV40-initiated transcripts were not processed to histone-specific 3' ends, but extended farther through the downstream Escherichia coli galactokinase gene to a SV40 polyadenylylation site. In contrast to the short SV40/H4 RNA, the levels of these longer transcripts were not reduced in G1-arrested cells. These results show that sequences in the 3'-terminal part of the H4 gene can regulate gene expression in the cell cycle, presumably at the post-transcriptional level, as long as they are not positioned much more distant from the terminus than normal.

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