Downstream promoter element

File:Core promoter elements.svg elements B recognition element (BRE), TATA box, initiator motif (Inr), and downstream promoter element (DPE), showing their respective consensus sequences and their distance from the transcription start site.{{cite journal|last1=Butler|first1=Jennifer E F|last2=Kadonaga|first2=James T|title=The RNA polymerase II core promoter: a key component in the regulation of gene expression|journal=Genes & Development|date=15 October 2002|volume=16|issue=20|pages=2583–2592|doi=10.1101/gad.1026202|pmid=12381658|doi-access=free}}]]

In molecular biology, a downstream promoter element (DPE) is a core promoter element. Like all core promoters, the DPE plays an important role in the initiation of gene transcription by RNA polymerase II. The DPE was first described by T. W. Burke and James T. Kadonaga in Drosophila melanogaster at the University of California, San Diego in 1996.{{cite journal|last1=Burke|first1=T W|last2=Kadonaga|first2=J T|title=Drosophila TFIID binds to a conserved downstream basal promoter element that is present in many TATA-box-deficient promoters.|journal=Genes & Development|date=15 March 1996|volume=10|issue=6|pages=711–724|doi=10.1101/gad.10.6.711|pmid=8598298|doi-access=free}} It is also present in other species including humans, but not Saccharomyces cerevisiae.{{cite journal|last1=Juven-Gershon|first1=Tamar|last2=Kadonaga|first2=James T.|title=Regulation of gene expression via the core promoter and the basal transcriptional machinery|journal=Developmental Biology|date=March 2010|volume=339|issue=2|pages=225–229|doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.08.009|pmid=19682982|pmc=2830304}}

Together with the initiator motif (Inr), another core promoter element, the DPE is recognized by the transcription factor II D (TFIID) subunits TAF6 and TAF9.{{cite journal|last1=Burke|first1=Thomas W.|last2=Kadonaga|first2=James T.|title=The downstream core promoter element, DPE, is conserved from Drosophila to humans and is recognized by TAFII60 of Drosophila|journal=Genes & Development|date=15 November 1997|volume=11|issue=22|pages=3020–3031|doi=10.1101/gad.11.22.3020|pmid=9367984|pmc=316699}}{{cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=Chuhu|last2=Bolotin|first2=Eugene|last3=Jiang|first3=Tao|last4=Sladek|first4=Frances M.|last5=Martinez|first5=Ernest|title=Prevalence of the initiator over the TATA box in human and yeast genes and identification of DNA motifs enriched in human TATA-less core promoters|journal=Gene|date=March 2007|volume=389|issue=1|pages=52–65|doi=10.1016/j.gene.2006.09.029|pmid=17123746|pmc=1955227}} It has been shown that DPE-dependent basal transcription depends highly on the Inr (and vice versa) and on correct spacing between the two elements.{{cite journal|last1=Kutach|first1=Alan K|last2=Kadonaga|first2=James T|title=The Downstream Promoter Element DPE Appears To Be as Widely Used as the TATA Box in Drosophila Core Promoters|journal=Molecular and Cellular Biology|date=1 July 2000|volume=20|issue=13|pages=4754–4764|doi=10.1128/MCB.20.13.4754-4764.2000|pmid=10848601|pmc=85905}}

The DPE consensus sequence was originally thought to be RGWCGTG, however more recent studies have suggested it to be the similar but more general sequence RGWYV(T).{{efn|In nucleic acid notation for DNA, R (puRine) stands for A/G (adenine or guanine, which are both purines); W (Weak) stands for A/T (adenine or thymine, which both form only two hydrogen bonds); Y (pYrimidine) stands for C/T (cytosine or thymine, which are both pyrimidines); and V stands for A/C/G.}}{{cite journal|last1=Kadonaga|first1=James T|title=The DPE, a core promoter element for transcription by RNA polymerase II|journal=Experimental & Molecular Medicine|date=September 2002|volume=34|issue=4|pages=259–264|doi=10.1038/emm.2002.36|pmid=12515390|doi-access=free}} It is located about 28–33 nucleotides downstream of the transcription start site.