Deletion of the core-H region in mice abolishes the expression of three proximal odorant receptor genes in cis

We have previously reported that a 2.1-kb homology (H) sequence, conserved between mouse and human, regulates the odorant receptor (OR) gene MOR28 in transgenic mice. Here, we narrowed down the essential sequences of the H to a core of 124 bp by using a transient expression system in zebrafish embryos. Transgenic experiments in mice demonstrated that the core-H sequence is sufficient to endow expression of the MOR28 minigene. Deletion and mutation analyses of the core-H region revealed two homeodomain sequences to be essential for the H enhancer activity. Targeted deletion of the core-H abolished expression of three proximal OR genes, MOR28, MOR10, and MOR83, in cis, indicating the presence of another locus control region/enhancer in the downstream region, that regulates four distal OR genes in the same MOR28 cluster. In the heterozygous mice, the H− phenotype of the mutant allele was not rescued by the wild-type H+ allele in trans.