The human SOX18 gene: Expression analysis and characterization of its 5’ flanking region

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish an adequate in vitro model system for studying transcriptional regulation of the human SOX18 gene. The paper presents an analysis of expression of this gene in cultured cell lines and characterization of its 5' flanking region. Using RT-PCR, Northern and Western blot analysis, we demonstrated SOX18 expression in HeLa cells, indicating that this cell line provides a suitable model system for studying transcriptional regulation of the given gene. We also cloned, sequenced and for the first time characterized the human SOX18 5’ flanking region. It is shown that the region 892 bp in size immediately upstream from the start codone harbors regulatory elements sufficient for transcription and represents an SOX18 promoter region.

Keywords

• SOX18 gene
• HeLa cell line
• 5’ flanking region
• promoter
• CpG island