The human α11 integrin promoter drives fibroblast-restricted expression in vivo and is regulated by TGF-β1 in a Smad- and Sp1-dependent manner

Integrin alpha11beta1 is expressed by ectomesenchymally- and mesodermally-derived fibroblasts and is the major collagen receptor on embryonic fibroblasts. We have previously characterized a 3kb human alpha11 promoter region in vitro. In the current study we generated promoter-LacZ reporter transgenic mice to examine the ability of the 3kb alpha11 promoter to drive tissue-specific expression also in vivo. Our data show that the 3 kb alpha11...