Abstract
BACKGROUND: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR delta) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Numerous studies have aimed at unravelling the physiological role of PPAR delta as a transcriptional regulator whereas the regulation of PPAR delta gene expression has been less studied. RESULTS: The principal transcription start site in the human PPAR delta gene identified here is positioned upstream of exon 1, although four alternative 5'-ends related to downstream exons were identified. The demonstration of multiple 5'-UTR splice variants of PPAR delta mRNA, with an impact on translation efficiency, suggests a translational regulation of human PPAR delta expression. Five untranslated exons identified in this study contribute to the variability among the 5'-UTRs of human PPAR delta mRNAs. Moreover, in vitro studies of a 3'-splice transcript encoding a truncated variant of PPAR delta (designated PPAR delta 2) show that this isoform constitutes a potential dominant negative form of the receptor. CONCLUSION: We propose that alternative splicing of human PPAR delta constitutes an intrinsic role for the regulation of PPAR delta expression and thus activity, and highlight the significance of alternative splicing of this nuclear receptor in physiology and disease.