Expression of the Human Androgen Receptor Gene Utilizes a Common Promoter in Diverse Human Tissues and Cell Lines

Androgens mediate their effects through an intracellular receptor that is a member of the steroid/thyroid hormone family of receptors. The expression of this protein is tightly regulated in different tissues and among cell types within a single tissue. To define the mechanisms controlling the expression of the androgen receptor, we have isolated and characterized the promoter of the androgen receptor gene in the human prostate cell line LNCaP. The major site of transcription initiation is approximately 1.1 kilobases upstream of the initiator methionine of the androgen receptor protein. The promoter region lacks typical "TATA" and "CAAT" sequence motifs but lies in a GC-rich region and contains a putative Sp1 binding site characteristic of a "housekeeping" promoter and a 44-base segment composed of alternating adenosine and guanosine residues. S1 nuclease protection analyses indicate that the same promoter is employed both in human tissues (prostate, testes), in genital skin fibroblasts, in T47D and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and in LNCaP prostate cancer cells.