The 5′ flanking region of the hepcidin gene contains conserved elements. The transcription start site of human hepcidin was determined by 5′ RACE (+1). A putative TATA box (light gray shading) and 10 conserved elements (CEs; dark gray shading) were identified by aligning 5′ flanking sequences of the hepcidin coding region from mouse, rat, human, and dog. Identical bases in all 4 species (*), conserved purines (#), and conserved pyrimidines (^) are indicated.