A mouse genomic B-type proline-rich protein (PRP) cosmid clone was isolated by cDNA hybridisation and mapped, the gene region was subcloned and 3770 bp were sequenced. This gene (MP4) contained three introns and encoded a 1020-nt (nt, nucleotide) mRNA for a PRP precursor 300 amino acids long arranged with 11 imperfect 18-residue proline-rich repeats. The transcriptional start point was determined by S1 nuclease mapping and primer extension to be 26 bp downstream of a TATAA sequence. Sequence comparisons revealed that only two regions from positions -650 bp - -30 bp were highly conserved in all other PRP genes, PRP boxes 1 and 2. Box 1 at positions -112 to -135 contained ets-like and rel/NFkB-like elements and was 74% conserved over 23 bp. Box 2 at positions -33 - -51 was 53% conserved over 19 bp. A search of the EMBL and GenBank sequence libraries indicated that PRP box 1 was only present upstream of the known mammalian PRP gene sequences and was absent from other genes. These conserved sequences may thus be relevant to the tissue-specific and beta-adrenergic regulation of PRP gene transcription.