Pyruvate kinase regulatory element 1 (PKR-RE1) mediates hexokinase gene expression in K562 cells

We have established the functional importance of PKR-RE1, a necessary transcriptional regulatory element in the erythroid-specific promoter of the human pyruvate kinase gene (PKLR). Here, we demonstrate by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) that the DNA–protein interaction at PKR-RE1 involves a CTGTC motif. Because the same motif is also present in the erythroid-specific promoter of the hexokinase gene (HK1), we confirmed its functional relevance by in vitro transfection in K562 cells. Moreover, EMSA demonstrated that the CTGTC motif in both the PKLR and HK1 promoters mediates binding of the same protein. Therefore, we postulate a more general role of PKR-RE1 in erythroid-specific gene expression.