PEAR1 rs12041331 gene variant modifies expression of luciferase in a gene reporter assay. (A) PGL3 promoter vector construct showing the insertion site for a 186-bp sequence of intron1 of PEAR1 spanning the A allele or G allele of rs12041331. Luc+ indicates luciferase gene. (B) Expression of luciferase in MEG-01 cells cotransfected with plasmids containing PGL3 and β-galactosidase. (C) Expression of luciferase in HUVECs cotransfected with plasmids containing PGL3 and β-galactosidase. Luciferase expression is shown by relative light units of luciferase (RLUs) normalized to absorption (OD) of β-galactosidase activity. PGL3 basic indicates luciferase gene plasmid without promoter; PGL3-P, luciferase gene plasmid with SV40 promoter; PGL3-P-A, luciferase gene plasmid with SV40 promoter and A allele–containing insert cloned from PEAR1; PGL3-P-G, luciferase gene plasmid with SV40 promoter and G allele–containing insert cloned from PEAR1. Results are displayed as mean ± SD; *P < .001 for difference among groups by ANOVA; n = 3.