Functional analysis of the wild-type (WT) and mutant (−61 T to G) factor VII promoters by transient transfections with reporter gene constructs in HepG2 cells. A PCR fragment with the mutation was cloned into a reporter plasmid containing the human growth hormone structural gene. A β-galactosidase plasmid was cotransfected with the growth hormone reporter gene constructs to correct for variations in transfection efficiency. The results are expressed in ng/mL of secreted growth hormone and represent the mean ± 1 SD of six independent transfections. The promoter activity of the mutant plasmid (p186GHm) was 6.7% of the wild-type plasmid (p186GH).