Isolation of a promoter region of a secreted metalloprotease gene from Microsporum canis.

MEP3 of Microsporum canis encodes a 43.5 kDa extracellular keratinolytic metalloprotease, which is thought to be one of the virulence-related factors in dermatophytosis. In order to analyze the system underlying the regulation of MEP3 gene expression, the 5'-upstream region was isolated by inverse PCR. The nucleotide sequence of a DNA fragment of about 2.1 kb containing the coding region contains putative transcription factor binding sites and transcriptional initiation points. Further analyses of the regulatory sequence may be useful for understanding the molecular basis of the coordinated expression of the various genes involved in dermatophytosis.