Most eukaryotic cells abundantly express polypeptide chain elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1 alpha), an enzyme which catalyzes the GTP-dependent binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to ribosomes. In this study, a series of deletion and scanning mutations was introduced in the promoter region of human EF-1 alpha chromosomal gene. Mutated promoters were fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene, and their promoter activity was determined in human HeLa cells. These analyses indicated that both the 5'-flanking region and the first intron of the EF-1 alpha gene are essential for its promoter activity. The region responsible in the intron contains several Sp1 and Ap1 elements which seem to have additive effects on its promoter activity. In the 5'-flanking region, two cis-elements (EFP1 and EFP2) which work interdependently were identified. Gel shift assay with EFP1 and EFP2 elements indicated that several nuclear factors bind to EFP1 and EFP2, and one of the three retarded bands with EFP2 could be super-shifted with the anti-Sp1 antibody. These results indicate that Sp1 or its related factor cooperatively enhances the expression of the EF-1 alpha gene in the 5' flanking region.