The promoter activity of the chicken liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1) gene in chicken ovary-derived (COV1) cells

LRH-1 is expressed in the steroidogenic organs and shares a role in steroidogenesis with SF-1, which is a paralog of LRH-1. We previously reported that the chicken LRH-1 gene is transcribed from at least five different transcription initiation sites, and alternative splicing produces several types of mRNA in steroidogenic organs. In this study, we show that four of five putative promoters are active in chicken ovary-derived cells. One of the active promoters, LRH-1D, was drastically repressed by WT1 (-KTS) and FOXL2. Moreover, LRH-1 and SF-1 weakly suppressed the activity. The expression of LRH-1 may be controlled by these factors in the chicken ovary.