Ubiquitous Nuclear Factors Bind Specifically to a 5′-Region Conserved in Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Related Genes

We recently cloned members of the murine carcinoembryonic antigen
(CEA) gene family, some of which are differentially expressed
during placental development. By intra- and interspecies sequence
comparisons, we identified an element in the putative promoter
and/or 5′-nontranslated region which is conserved within all human
and rodent CEA-related genes analyzed so far. Using gel retardation
analysis and DNasel hypersensitive site mapping, we now show that
ubiquitously expressed nuclear factors specifically bind to the
conserved region derived from the mouse gene Cea-2 in vitro and
probably also in vivo. Another DNasel hypersensitive site lies
within or close to a simple sequence motif [(GGA)n] located in the
first intron of Cea-2. Such sequences have been reported to play a
role in the regulation of certain genes. Therefore, this analysis
has identified putative regulatory regions for Cea-2 and possibly
CEA-related genes in general.