Abstract:
The promoter of the human endoglin gene, parts thereof, and compositions containing these are useful for high level control of gene expression, particularly in endothelial cells. The promoter, and promoter active portions of the promoter are shown to have unexpected activity and are particularly relevant for therapeutic use.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to promoters that have high activity and specifically to controlling elements for human endoglin gene expression in endothelial cells. The invention further relates to the use of such moieties in preparing therapeutic agents. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     An important problem in gene therapy is the control of the transcription and translation of an effector gene which is inserted into the cell. At the level of transcription, this control is made possible by adding on a promoter or enhancer sequence upstream of the coding sequence of the effector gene. The &#34;promoter sequence&#34; is understood as being a gene segment to which regulatory proteins, the so-called transcription factors, which in their totality activate the transcription of the downstream effector gene, are able to bind. Those regions which lie in the direction of transcription are designated &#34;downstream&#34; sequences, whereas sequences which are arranged in the opposite direction are designated &#34;upstream&#34; sequences. An &#34;effector gene&#34; is generally understood as being a structural gene whose gene product has, for example, a desirable effect in the gene therapy sense. 
     Such promoter or enhancer sequences can be non-cell-specific, cell-specific, virus-specific, metabolism specific or cell cycle-specific. Examples of these promoter sequences and their use, e.g. for the gene therapy of different diseases, are listed in Patent Applications WO 96/06940, WO 96/06938, WO 96/06941 and WO 96/06939. In addition, these patent applications present techniques and examples for combining these promoter sequences, e.g. for the purpose of controlling an effector gene cell-specifically and cell cycle-specifically. 
     Depending on the choice and combinations of the promoters, these promoters bring about a more or less restricted and/or more or less powerful transcription of the effector gene. 
     The endothelial cell is an example of an advantageous target cell for gene therapy, on the one hand because endothelial cells are directly accessible to gene constructs which are injected into the circulatory system and, on the other hand, because they are directly involved in the development and progress of a number of disorders, such as tumor diseases, inflammations, allergies, autoimmune diseases, organ rejection reactions and circulatory and coagulation disorders, and also in healing processes, and/or are directly adjacent to the site of these disorders. 
     As a rule, target cell-specific promoters are promoters of genes for those proteins which are formed particularly vigorously, or to a large extent exclusively, in the relevant target cell. In the case of the endothelial cell, endoglin is an example of one of these proteins. 
     Endoglin is a non-signal-transferring receptor of TGFP (Gougos et al., J. Biol. Chem. 265, 8361 (1990), Cheifetz, J. Biol. Chem. 267, 19027 (1992), Moren et al., BBRC 189, 356 (1992)). While it occurs in small quantities on normal endothelium, it is expressed to an increased extent on proliferating endothelium (Westphal et al., J. Invest. Derm. 100, 27 (1993), Burrows et al., Pharmac. Ther. 65, 155 (1994). No further information is available with regard to promoter strength and cell specificity. Despite the fact that the endoglin gene has been known for about 4 years (Bellon et al., (1993), it has not so far been possible to isolate the endoglin promoter. 
     The cDNA sequence for human endoglin has been described by Bellon et al. (Eur. J., Immunol. 23, 2340 (1993)), while that for murine endoglin has been described by Ge et al. (Gene 138, 201 (1994)). While sequence information is available for a part of the 5&#39;-non-translated region of the endoglin gene, nothing is known about the function of this region or about the promoter region. 
     The VEGF receptor is another endothelial cell-specific protein. In this case, two receptors are distinguished (Plate et al., Int. J. Cancer 59, 520 (1994)): on the one hand, VEGF receptor 1 (flt-1), (de Vries et al., Science 255, 989 (1992)), which contains an fms-like tyrosine kinase in the cytoplasmic moiety, and VEGF receptor 2 (flk-1, KDR), (Terman et al., BBRC 187, 1579 (1992)), which contains a tyrosine kinase in the cytoplasmic moiety. Both receptors are found almost exclusively on endothelial cells (Senger et al., Cancer Metast. Rev. 12, 303 (1993)). 
     Other endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinases are tie-1 or tie-2 (Partanen et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 12, 1698 (1992), Schnurch und Risau, Development 119, 957 (1993), Dumont et al., Oncogene 7, 1471 (1992)), and the B61 receptor (Eck receptor), (Bartley et al., Nature 368, 558 (1994), Pandey et al., Science 268, 567 (1995), van der Geer et al., Ann. Rev. Cell. Biol. 10, 251 (1994)). 
     Other endothelial cell-specific proteins are the B61 molecule, which represents the ligand for the B61 receptor (Holzman et al., J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 4, 466 (1993), Bartley et al., Nature 368, 558 (1994)), endothelin, in particular endothelin B (O&#39;Reilly et al., J. Cardiovasc. Pharm. 22, 18 (1993), Benafti et al., J. Clin Invest 91, 1149 (1993), O&#39;Reilly et al., BBRC 193, 834 (1993)), whose promoter sequence has been described by Benafti et al., J. Clin. Invest. 91, 1149 (1993), endothelin 1 (Yanasigawa et al., Nature 332, 411 (1988)), whose promoter sequence has been described by Wilson et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10, 4654 (1990), endothelin receptors, in particular the endothelin B receptor (Webb et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 47, 730 (1995), Haendler et al. J. Cardiovasc. Pharm. 20, 1 (1992)), mannose 6-phosphate receptors (Perales et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 226, 225 (1994)), whose promoter sequences have been described by Ludwig et al. (Gene 142, 311 (1994), Oshima et al., (J. Biol. Chem. 263, 2553 (1988)) and Pohlmann et al. (PNAS USA 84, 5575 (1987)), and von Willebrand factor (vWF), whose promoter sequence has been described by Jahroudi and Lynch (Mol. Cell. Biol. 14, 999 (1994)), Ferreira et al. (Biochem. J. 293, 641 (1993)) and Aird et al. (PNAS USA 92, 4567 (1995)). 
     Other endothelial cell-specific proteins are IL-1 in the form, for example, of IL-1(x and IL-1p, which are produced by activated endothelial cells (Warner et al., J. Immunol. 139, 1911 (1987)) and whose promoter sequences have been described by Hangen et al., Mol. Carcinog. 2, 68 (1986), Turner et al., J. Immunol. 143, 3556 (1989), Fenton et al., J. Immunol. 138, 3972 (1 987), Bensi et al., Cell Growth Diff. 1, 491 (1990), Hiscoft et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13, 6231 (1993) and Mori et al., Blood 84, 1688 (1994), IL-1 receptor, whose promoter sequence has been described by Ye et al., PNAS USA 90, 2295 (1993), and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1), with the expression of VCAM-1 in endothelial cells being activated by lipopolysaccharides, TNF-(X (Neish et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2558 /1995)), IL-4 (lademarco et al., J. Clin. Invest. 95, 264 (1995)) and IL-5 (Marni et al., J. Clin. Invest. 92, 1866 (1993)). The promoter sequence of VCAM-1 has been described by Neish et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 15, 2558 (1995), Ahmad et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270, 8976 (1995), Neish et al., J. Exp. Med. 176, 1583 (1992), Lademareo et al., J. Biol. 
     Chem. 267, 16323 (1992), and Cybuisky et al., PNAS USA 88, 7859 (1991). 
     Other endothelial cell-specific promoters are synthetic activator sequences, in that synthetic activator sequences, which are composed of oligomerized binding sites for transcription factors which are preferentially or selectively active in endothelial cells, for example the transcription factor GATA-2, whose binding site in the endothelin I gene is 5&#39;-TTATCT-3&#39; (Lee et al., Biol. Chem. 266, 16188 (1991), Dorfmann et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267, 1279 (1992) and Wilson et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10, 4854 (1 990)), can also be used as an alternative to natural endothelium-specific promoters, and the brain-specific, endothelial glucose-1 -transporter, in that brain endothelial cells characteristically express this transporter very strongly in order to effect transendothelial transport of D-glucose into the brain (Gerhart et al., J. Neurosci. Res. 22, 464 (1989)). The promoter sequence has been described by Murakami et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 267, 9300 (1992)). 
     While being fairly specific for endothelial cells, some of these promoters, for example the promoter for the gene for von Willebrand factor or for the gene for VEGF receptor 1 (flk-1), are, however, only of relatively low activity. While the activity of such &#34;weak&#34; promoters can be increased by combining them with a basal promoter (e.g. SV40) or an enhancer, this then usually leads to an accompanying decrease in specificity. Accordingly, strong promoters are needed for high expression of transgenic materials in endothelial cells. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a promoter that causes high gene expression. Another object is to provide a promoter that can be used for selective transgenic expression in endothelial tissue. 
     In carrying out these aims, the inventors provide a promoter of the human endoglin gene, comprising SEQ ID NO: 1, functional moieties of this gene, and variants thereof. Various embodiments provide, nucleic acid constructs and vectors that contain such sequences, their functional moieties and variants. 
     One embodiment of the invention is drawn to a promoter of the human endoglin gene, comprising a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 1 or a variant sequence thereof. Another embodiment is drawn to a vector comprising a promoter of the human endoglin gene, said promoter having a sequence that comprises SEQ ID NO: 1, a functional moiety, or a variant sequence thereof. In yet another embodiment the invention pertains to a pharmaceutical composition for treating a disease, said composition comprising a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, a functional moiety, or a variant sequence thereof. Other embodiments will be apparent from this specification and also recognized by skilled workers in this field. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO: 1) shows the sequence of the human endoglin promoter. Base pair 1 corresponds to the region of the sequence which is located farthest 5&#39;. A highly conserved Alu sequence is located in the region of base pairs 1360-1666, while the homology with the documented M. musculus cDNA begins in the 3&#39; region at base pair 2300, and the documented part of the H. sapiens cDNA (5&#39;-untranslated region) begins at base pair 2379. 
     FIG. 2 shows the relative activities of 5&#39; terminally deleted constructs of the endoglin promoter. 
     FIGS. 3A and 3B show details of the pCR 2.1 Endo and pGL3 Endo vectors. A is a fragment of the human endoglin promoter prepared by means of PCR and which was ligated into the TA cloning site of the vector pCR 2.1 (Invitrogen). B is a fragment containing the human endoglin promoter that was excised from the construct pCR 2.1 Endo with the enzymes Mlul and Xhol and cloned into luciferase reporter vector pGL3 (Promega). 
     FIG. 4 depicts luciferase expression under the control of different endothelial cell-specific promoters. All of the promoters are cloned into pGL3 and all of the reported values are standardized on the SV40 basal promoter. SV40: SV40 basal promoter without enhancer. pGL3Endo: endoglin promoter (see FIG. 3B). vWF+SV40 enhancer: the von Willebrand factor promoter enhanced with an upstream SV40 enhancer. flk-1--the promoter for the VEGF receptor flk-1 (-224/starting ATG). vWF--the von Willebrand factor promoter (-487/+247) without additional enhancers. 
     FIG. 5 contrasts, using luciferase expression, endoglin promoter activity in endothelial cells and non-endothelial cells. The constructs are the same as in FIG. 4 and standardized on the SV40 basal promoter. The activity of the endoglin promoter in the endothelial cell line ECV304 was compared with its activity in the HeLa cervical carcinoma cell line. In this assay, the activity in ECV304 cells is approximately 29 times higher than in HeLa cells. This indicates that the cloned promoter is not only active in endothelial cells but is also selective for these cells. 
     FIG. 6 shows putative binding sites for transcription factors on the endoglin promoter between the Alu sequence and the beginning of the cDNA. Only the region between the Alu sequence and the beginning of the CDNA is shown. All the binding sites are located on the plus(+) strand. Some strongly homologous potential binding sites, which could be responsible for the selectivity and activity of the promoter and which include several conserved NF-KB binding sites, are located in the region between a conserved Alu sequence and the documented CDNA. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The inventors surprisingly found the endoglin gene promoter to be both strong and endothelium specific. Moreover, this promoter, and functional moieties and variants of it, exhibit these properties more strongly than expected, based on studies of another endothelial cell promoter. The inventors discovered that the endoglin promoter extends over a maximum of 2415 base pairs (see FIG. 1, SEQ ID NO: 1), preferably encompasses the nucleotide sequence 12378, and includes an RNA transcription initiation sequence. 
     The inventors found that the entire promoter sequence displays these advantageous properties, but also that parts of the promoter sequence display strong endothelial cell-specific activity. These portions were individually tested in endothelial cells and compared with the SV40 promoter as a standard, as described below. 
     A comparison of regulatory element activities with that of the SV40 promoter was made using endothelial cells. FIG. 2 shows these relative activities for 5&#39; terminally deleted constructs of the endoglin gene promoter. 
     In order to characterize the promoter according to the invention, the promoter sequence of the endoglin gene, or parts thereof, were linked to a reporter gene (e.g. the gene encoding the enzyme luciferase) in the plasmid pGL3 (Promega), and endothelial cells (ECV-304 cell line). For comparison, cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa cell line) were transfected with this construct. Surprisingly, it was found that the endoglin promoter is about 80 times as strong as the vWF promoter. This is surprising because vWF is, as mentioned above, expressed in an endothelium specific manner and it would consequently have been expected that the strength of the endoglin promoter would be similar to that of the vWF promoter. 
     It was also found that the endoglin promoter is about 30 times more active in endothelial cells than in cervical carcinoma cells. This is surprising because the vWF promoter, which is likewise endothelium-specific, has a similar strength in cervical carcinoma cells and in endothelial cells. Consequently, the vWF gene promoter is distinctly surpassed by the endoglin promoter, according to the invention, both with regard to its strength and with regard to its endothelium specificity. 
     For purposes of the invention, &#34;functional moieties of the promoter&#34; means all partial sequences of the promoter which possess promoter activity. Advantageous sequences in this context are the partial sequences from approximately 1 to approximately 2378, from approximately 36 to approximately 2378, from approximately 470 to approximately 2378 and from approximately 948 to approximately 2378, and also the partial sequences from approximately 36 to approximately 2415, from approximately 470 to approximately 2415 and from approximately 948 to approximately 2415, preferably the partial sequences from approximately 470 to approximately 2415 and from approximately 470 to approximately 2378. Partial sequences possessing promoter activity also extend, for example, from approximately 1310 to approximately 2415 and from approximately 1310 to approximately 2378, and from approximately 1847 to approximately 2415 and from approximately 1847 to approximately 2378. 
     The phrase &#34;sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 1&#34; includes not only the entire sequence, but portions of this sequence that have promoter activity. This definition includes functional moieties of the promoter. 
     The present invention is not restricted to sequences selected from SEQ ID NO: 1 (i.e. the entire sequence, and functional moieties thereof) but also comprises variants which possess promoter activity. Variants of this nature comprise, for example, deletions, additions, insertions and/or substitutions of one or more bases, preferably of from approximately 1 to approximately 50, in particular of from approximately 1 to approximately 25, especially of from approximately 1 to approximately 5, bases from a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 1. Thus, a &#34;variant&#34; as termed here, is a modified sequence from SEQ ID NO: 1 that still has promoter activity. Modifications can be made by various techniques that are known to the skilled artisan. An example of such a technique is given in Sambrook, J. et al., MOLECULAR CLONING. LABORATORY MANUAL, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989). 
     The promoter activity can be readily measured, for example, using the luciferase assay described by Herber et al. (Oncogene 9, 1295 (1994)) and Lucibello et al. (EMBO J. 14, 132 (1995)). The present invention furthermore also relates to a nucleic acid construct which comprises a) at least one nucleic acid sequence of the promoter according to the invention (component a)) and, where appropriate, b) at least one effector gene (component b)), with the transcription of this effector gene being activated by component a). Component a) is preferably located upstream of component b). 
     The invention furthermore relates to a nucleic acid construct in which the promoter sequence of the endoglin gene according to the invention is combined with another target cell-specific, virus-specific, metabolism specific or cell cycle-specific promoter sequence and with at least one effector gene, in which this combination of promoter sequences controls the activation of at least one effector gene. 
     A nucleic acid construct according to the invention is preferably composed of DNA. The term &#34;nucleic acid construct&#34; is understood as meaning artificial structures which are composed of nucleic acid and which can be transcribed in the target cells. They are preferably inserted into a vector, for example into non-viral vectors, such as plasmids, or viral vectors. The skilled artisan is familiar with the preparation of non-viral vectors and of viral vectors. Such preparation is explained, for example, in Sambrook, J. et al., MOLECULAR CLONING. LABORATORY MANUAL, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989). 
     The present invention also relates to cells which harbor a nucleic acid construct according to the invention. Such cells can be prokaryotic or eukaryotic, and advantageously are endothelial cells and hematopoietic cells, such as CD34 positive stem cells, macrophages, or B-lymphocytes. 
     In general, the choice of an effector gene, in accordance with the invention, depends on the disease to be treated with the gene construct. 
     Examples of effector genes are those used for the therapy of tumor diseases, leukemias, autoimmune diseases, allergies, arthritis, inflammations, organ rejections, graft versus host reactions, diseases of the blood coagulation system, cardiovascular diseases, anemia, infections or damage to the CNS and are described in detail in Patent Applications WO 96/06940, WO 96/06938, WO 96/06941 and WO 96/06939. 
     For example, an effector gene in conformance with the present invention may encode a cytokine such as IL-1, IL-2, TL-4, IL-12, IL-3, or IL-5, a chemokine, a growth factor, a receptor for a cytokine, a receptor for a chemokine or a receptor for a growth factor, a cytokine antagonist, a protein which induces cytostasis, cytotoxicity or apoptosis, an antibody or an antibody fragment, an antiangiogenic protein, such as angiostatin, an interferon, such as IFNα, IFNβ or IFNγ, a coagulation factor, a coagulation inhibitor, a fibrinolytic protein, an enzyme which cleaves a precursor of a drug, thereby forming a drug, an enzyme such as bacterial nitroreductase, bacterial β-glucuronidase, plant β-glucuronidase derived from Secale cereale, human β-glucuronidase, human carboxypeptidase (CB), e.g. mast cell CB-A or pancreas CB-B, or bacterial carboxypeptidase, bacterial β-lactamase, bacterial cytosine deaminase, human catalase or peroxidase, phosphatase, in particular human alkaline phosphatase or human acid prostate phosphatase, type 5 acid phosphatase, oxidase, in particular human lysyl oxidase or human acid D-aminooxidase, peroxidase, in particular human glutathione peroxidase, human eosinophilic peroxidase or human thyroid peroxidase, a protein which exerts an effect on blood circulation such as kallikrein or endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase, or an antigen of an infectious pathogen which evokes an immune reaction. Particularly advantageous in this context is β-glucuronidase protein. 
     A nucleic acid construct according to the invention can furthermore comprise two or more identical or different eeffector genes which are linked to each other by way of promoter sequences or internal ribosomal entry sites (IRES). Examples of these are given in the above mentioned patent applications. Methods for preparing these constructs are well known to the skilled artisan, as for example, described in the above mentioned patent applications which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     A nucleic acid construct according to the invention can be used, for example, to express a gene 1) specifically in an endothelial cell, 2) specifically in an endothelial cell and also in a metabolism specific manner, 3) specifically in an endothelial cell and also cell cycle-specifically and 4) specifically in an endothelial cell and virus-specifically (and optionally cell cycle or metabolic specific). The controlled gene preferably encodes a pharmacologically active compound or an enzyme which cleaves an inactive precursor of a drug, thereby forming an active drug. 
     Preference is given to using a nucleic acid construct according to the invention to prepare a pharmaceutical composition (drug), for treating at least one of the above mentioned diseases, with the preparation of a pharmaceutical generally comprising the cloning of the nucleic acid construct into a suitable vector, which is then, for example, administered to the patient. A skilled artisan is familiar with other ways of using a promoter and these other ways are possible according to the invention. A skilled artisan also will appreciate creation and modification of various nucleic acid constructs according to the invention. 
     The pharmaceutical compositions contemplated are intended for parenteral, topical, oral or local administration and generally comprise a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and an amount of the active ingredient sufficient to reverse or prevent the bad effects of a disease state. The carrier may be any of those conventionally used and is limited only by chemico-physical considerations, such as solubility and lack of reactivity with the compound, and by the route of administration. 
     Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts for use in the present inventive pharmaceutical composition include those derived from mineral acids, such as hydrochloric, hydrobromic, phosphoric, metaphosphoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, and organic acids, such as tartaric, acetic, citric, malic, lactic, fumaric, benzoic, glycolic, gluconic, succinic, p-toluenesulphonic acids, and arylsulphonic, for example. 
     The pharmaceutically acceptable carriers described herein, for example, vehicles, adjuvants, carriers or diluents, are well-known to those who are skilled in the art and are readily available to the public. It is preferred that the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier be one that is chemically inert to the active compounds and one that has no detrimental side effects or toxicity under the conditions of use. 
     EXAMPLE 
     The following example, together with the table and Figures described above, is intended to describe the invention in more detail without limiting it. 
     The PromoterFinder TM DNA Walking kit (Clontech) was used for cloning the promoter. Using this kit, an approximately 2.4 kilobase pair fragment located 5&#39; of the documented sequence was amplified, in two PCR runs, from the 5&#39;-untranslated region of human endoglin CDNA with the aid of the two gene-specific primers 
     E1: GCTGGGCTGGAGTTGCTGTCCGAAGGATG (SEQ ID NO: 2) 
     E2: AATGGATGGCAGTGACAGCAGCAGTCCTG (SEQ ID NO: 3). 
     The PCR conditions for this were as follows: 
     1. PCR: Primer E1, 25s at 94° C., 25s×94° C., 20s at 63° C., 4 min at 68° C., 39 cycles, 4 min at 68° C. 
     2. (nested) PCR: Primer E2, 25s at 94° C., 25s at 94° C., 20s at 61° C. 4 min at 68° C., 26 cycles, 4 min at 68° C. 
     Polymerase: Expand (TM) Long Template PCR system (Boehringer Mannheim) 
     The PCR fragment was purified through QlAquick (TM) spin columns (Qiagen) and inserted into a TA cloning vector (Original TA Cloning (TM) kit (Invitrogen)). This construct, pCR 2.1 Endo (see FIG. 3A), was sequenced and the cloned region was identified as a 2415 base pair 5&#39; region of the human endoglin gene (see FIG. 2). 
     The cloned region from this vector was cloned into a luciferase reporter vector, i.e. pGL3 (Promega), and tested for its promoter activity, as the construct pGL3Endo (see FIG. 3b), in HeLa and ECV304 cells. 
     The cells were transfected either by the DEAE/dextran method (adapted from Sompayrac et al., PNAS 78, 7575 (1981)) or using LipofectAMINE TM (Gibco BRL). As well as the pGL3Endo construct, the SV40 basal promoter was transfected as a standard; the fik-1-(VEGF) (-225/starting ATG) promoter and also the von Willebrand factor (vWF) (-487/+247) promoter, with or without SV40 enhancer, were also transfected. This latter vWF promoter construct containing an SV40 enhancer is distinctive in that its activity is markedly higher than that of the wild-type promoter, while its selectivity, although reduced, is not abolished. All the constructs were cloned into pGL3, and the luciferase assay was performed as described in Herber et al. (Oncogene 9, 1295 (1994)) and Lucibello et al. (EMBO J. 14, 132 (1995)). 
     The luciferase activity of the different promoters in ECV304 cells (FIG. 2) demonstrates that the cloned fragment of the 5&#39; region of the endoglin gene possesses a promoter activity. This activity is very high when compared with that of other typical endothelial cell-specific promoters. The activity is four times higher than that of the flk-1 promoter and more than eighty times higher than that of the vWF promoter. The activity of the pGL3Endo construct is higher even when the vWF promoter is enhanced with an SV40 enhancer sequence. These data confirm that the cloned region is the promoter of the human endoglin gene. 
     The publications and patents cited are herein incorporated in their entireties by reference. The priority application DE 19704301.1 is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
         __________________________________________________________________________#             SEQUENCE LISTING   - -  - - (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:   - -    (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 3   - -  - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:   - -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:       (A) LENGTH: 2415 base - #pairs       (B) TYPE: nucleic acid       (C) STRANDEDNESS: single       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear   - -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)   - -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:   - - CGGGGGTTCC TCCTCTGTAA AGTGGAGGTA TAACGGTACC CACCTCCTGG GG -#TGGCTGTG     60   - - AGGATTCAGA GCTGATAAGG TGAACGCCTA GGGCGGGCCC TGGTGCAGAG AG -#AGCGCTCA    120   - - GCTCCTAGGG CTGGATTAAC TGTCCCTGGG GCACAGATCT CGGTCTGGGG CC -#TGTGGAAA    180   - - CCTCAGAGCC ACCCCTGAAC CCCCACCGAG CCACCCTTTG CCTCGCAGTG CC -#CATGGCCT    240   - - CGTCTCCGAG GTTACAGGAA AAGGCAGAGG AGATGCCCTT CTCAGGGTGG CC -#CTCTGGGA    300   - - GAGGACACTC TCCCTTGACC TCAAAGCCAC GCTTGGCTGC AAACTGGCCA GG -#CAGCCACA    360   - - AGGCTGGGCA AGCAGAACGA TCCCTAATCC CCACCCAAAG AGCCACACCG AC -#CCTCCCAG    420   - - CCGCTGTGAC AGCTCCTGCA GAGACAAACA CACGGCCTAC TCTTGTCACC CG -#GGCCGGCC    480   - - AATAAGCACG GAGAGGCAAG GCCTCAGACC CTGGACAGAC ATCCTCCCTC CA -#GAGGCACC    540   - - AGGGCCTCAG CCTTCTCCTC CCTCCCTGGG CCTCAATTTC TCCACCTGTG AC -#CCAGGGCA    600   - - GGTGGATCCA GGGAGAAGAA CCTTCTGGCT CCATCTCACC ATGGGTCCTG CC -#AGCACACA    660   - - CAAAGATTTG GCCTCTCAAA GCCTAGCTCT GCCAGCGTCC TTCTGCTCAA GA -#ACTCTCCA    720   - - TGACTCCCAG TGGCCCTAAG GACAAAGTCC TGGCATTTGA GGCCCTCCCA AT -#GCAGGGCC    780   - - AGACTCTGCC TCTCCAGCTT CCTGTCCCCA CCACACCCCT GCTGGTCTCA CG -#GTGGTCCG    840   - - ACTGTTTCCT GCTTCTGTGC CTTTGCTTAG TCTGGCACCC CTGCCTGGCA TG -#CTTTCCTC    900   - - ACCCCTTCTT CTCCCCAATC CCAACTCACC CAGTCTTTCA AAGGGCAGGC CT -#AAATACCA    960   - - GGCCCTCCAG GTGGCCCAGG ATTCCTTCTC TGAGCTTTCA TGGGCCTGGC CC -#TGGGTGCT   1020   - - ACCTGTGAGT AGTCCCACGG TGGGTACATA GTAGGTGCGC TTACTGTTCG CA -#GAATGAAC   1080   - - ATGGGACAGT TTGGGGACTG TCACCCAGCT CAGGGAGCAC TGATGGGGAA GC -#ATCTCCTG   1140   - - TATGTCCCAG GGCTCAGTGC TGTAGTGTCC TGACCCTCAG AAATCTCATA AT -#GGCTTGGT   1200   - - CAGGAAGGCA TCGTGCCCCA CTTTGCAAAC AGGGGGTGCT GAGAATTGAG GG -#GCCTTGTC   1260   - - CAAGGTCTCA TGGCTAGGAG CAAGCAGAAT CGGATTTGAA CCCAGGGCCA CG -#TGACTTCA   1320   - - GAAGTGCCAT TAAAGTCCCC ATAATTCGGA GCTGTCTTCT TTTTTTTTTT CT -#TTCTTTTT   1380   - - TTTGAGACCG AGCCTCACTC TGTCACCTAG GCCAGGAGTG CAGTGGTCTG AT -#CTCAGCTC   1440   - - ACTGCAACCT CCGCCTCCTA GGTTCAAGTG ATTCTCTAGC CTCAGCCTCC CA -#AGTAGCTG   1500   - - GGACTACAGG CGCACGTCAT CATGCCCAGC TAACTTTTGT ATTTTTAGTA GA -#GATGGGTT   1560   - - TTCACCATGT TGGTCAGGCT GGTCTCGAAC TCCTGACCTC AAGTGATCCG TC -#TGCCTCGG   1620   - - CCTCTCAAAG TGCTGGGATT ATAGGCTTGA GCCACTACAC TCGGCCTGGA GC -#TGTGTTTT   1680   - - GTCGGTGAAG GATTTTCCAC CCATGAAGGG GTCAGACGTG AAGCGTGTGG CC -#CTGGGCAG   1740   - - CTCCTCTGAG CCCAGAGACG CCAGCCCTAG CCGCCTTGCT GTGCCACTTT GG -#GACTTCCC   1800   - - TCCCTAGCCT GAGCTTCAGT TTTCCTGCCT GTTAGGCAGC CCCATGTCAA CT -#GCACTTAG   1860   - - TAGGCCGGGT TTGATGCCCG ACAAGACGTG AAGTGGTGGA GGTGGGCAGG AT -#CCCAGCGC   1920   - - TACCATCTTC TTGAACCAGT GATCTCAACA CATCGGATTT CTGTTTCCTC AT -#CTGCAAAA   1980   - - TGGGATCAGT GAGCTCAGGT GGGTCACAAA TTCTACAGGA ACTACTTTAG CC -#AAGCCCGG   2040   - - CCCCCTGAAA GTTCCCCTCG GTGGGCAGTT AGGGTGATTG TTTTCATCTG TG -#GGGCTCCC   2100   - - TGATGCGTCC CACCCACCAG CCTTGGAGAG GGTGGGATGG GAGGGTGGGG TG -#CTTGGGGA   2160   - - GACAAGCCTA GAGCCTGGGC CCTCCCACCC CACTGCCTCC CCCCATCCCA GG -#GCCCCCCA   2220   - - CCCAGTGACA AAGCCCGTGG CACTTCCTCT ACCCGGTTGG CAGGCGGCCT GG -#CCCAGCCC   2280   - - CTTCTCTAAG GAAGCGCATT TCCTGCCTCC CTGGGCCGGC CGGGCTGGAT GA -#GCCGGGAG   2340   - - CTCCCTGCTG CCGGTCATAC CACAGCCTTC ATCTGCGCCC TGGGGCCAGG AC -#TGCTGCTG   2400   - - TCACTGCCAT CCATT              - #                  - #- #  2415  - -  - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:  - -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:      (A) LENGTH: 29 base - #pairs      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid      (C) STRANDEDNESS: single      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear  - -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)  - -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:  - - GCTGGGCTGG AGTTGCTGTC CGAAGGATG         - #                  - #   29  - -  - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:  - -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:      (A) LENGTH: 29 base - #pairs      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid      (C) STRANDEDNESS: single      (D) TOPOLOGY: linear  - -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)  - -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:  - - AATGGATGGC AGTGACAGCA GCAGTCCTG         - #                  - #   29__________________________________________________________________________