A similar 5'-flanking region is required for estrogen and progesterone induction of ovalbumin gene expression.

We have previously transferred an ovalbumin-beta-globin fusion gene (ovalglobin) into primary cultures of chick oviduct cells and demonstrated that an ovalbumin gene 5'-flanking sequence between -221 and -95 is necessary for progesterone-mediated transcriptional induction (Dean, D. C., Knoll, B. J., Riser, M. E., and O'Malley, B. W. (1983) Nature (Lond.) 305, 551-554). Here we compare 5'-flanking sequences required for induction of the ovalglobin gene by 17 beta-estradiol and progesterone. The early gene of simian virus 40 was inserted into the same plasmid as the ovalbumin fusion gene to serve as an internal control. Since transcription of the viral early gene was unaffected by the presence of steroid hormone or deletions in the ovalbumin gene 5'-flanking region, the level of its transcripts could be monitored as a reference standard for ovalglobin transcription. Ovalglobin transcripts initiated principally from the ovalbumin cap site in the presence or absence of progesterone and 17 beta-estradiol. Deletion of 5'-flanking sequences to -197 had little effect on the induction with either hormone, while successive deletions to -180, -161, and -143 resulted in a gradual decrease in the level of induction. Deletion to -95 eliminated the induction. The results of this study indicate that DNA control elements for regulation of the ovalbumin gene by estrogen and progesterone either overlap directly or are clustered in close proximity in the 5'-flanking region near the ovalbumin gene promoter.