THE FUNCTION OF RE-1/REST IN CRH REGULATION

Children'S Hospital Boston, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

To establish the potential for the nuclear factor, Restrictive Element Silencing Transcription factor (REST), to negatively regulate CRH gene expression via the Restrictive Element 1 (RE-1 element) located in the first intron of the CRH gene. A) Demonstrate specific REST binding to the CRH RE-1 sequence in vitro, by Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) to establish the possibility for RE-1 mediated CRH transcriptional regulation by REST. B) Show by in vitro transcriptional assays that RE-1 can mediate CRH transcriptional repression by REST. II. To test the hypothesis that the RE-1 element mediates important in vivo transcriptional regulation of the CRH gene by mouse knock-in of a version of the gene lacking the RE-1.