The testicular isoform of the ornithine decarboxylase antizyme (OAZt) gene is expressed exclusively in the haploid spermatids of mice. The 357-bp region, which includes a TATAless promoter and an untranslated region, is su⁄cient for OAZt gene expression in the spermatids of transgenic mice. In this study, in vivo transient transfection to living mouse testes was used to de¢ne the transcriptional regulatory elements of the OAZt gene promoter. We found that the 10-bp element that contains an initiator (Inr) plays a central role as the core promoter, in combination with a downstream element, while two cyclic adenosine monophosphate-responsive element (CRE)-like sites in the upstream region also contribute to promoter activity. The electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed binding of the testis-speci¢c factors to these elements. Our results show that the in vivo DNA transfer technique enables detailed analysis of haploid germ cell-speci¢c gene regulation in mice.
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