Progenitor Stage-Specific Activity of acis-Acting Double GATA Motif forGata1Gene Expression
GATA1 is a master regulator of erythropoiesis, expression of which is regulated by multiple discretecis-acting elements. In this study, we examine the activity of a promoter-proximal double GATA (dbGATA) motif, using aGata1bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-transgenic green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter (G1BAC-GFP) mouse system. Deletion of the dbGATA motif led to significant reductions in GFP expression in hematopoietic progenitors, while GFP expression was maintained in erythroblasts. Consistently, in mice with a germ line deletion of the dbGATA motif (Gata1ΔdbGATAmice), GATA1 expression in progenitors was significantly decreased. The suppressed GATA1 expression was associated with a compensatory increase in GATA2 levels in progenitors. When we crossedGata1ΔdbGATAmice withGata2hypomorphic mutant mice (Gata2fGN/fGNmice), theGata1ΔdbGATA::Gata2fGN/fGNcompound mutant mice succumbed to a significant decrease in the progenitor population, whereas both groups of single mutant mice maintained progenitors and survived to adulthood, indicating the functional redundancy between GATA1 and GATA2 in progenitors. Meanwhile, the effects of the dbGATA site deletion onGata1expression were subtle in erythroblasts, which showed increased GATA1 binding and enhanced accumulation of active histone marks around the 1st-intron GATA motif of the ΔdbGATAlocus. These results thus reveal a novel role of the dbGATA motif in the maintenance ofGata1expression in hematopoietic progenitors and a functional compensation between the dbGATA site and the 1st-intron GATA motif in erythroblasts.