Transcription of the human squalene synthase (HSS) gene is regulated by variations in the level of cellular cholesterol. Three regulatory elements in the HSS promoter region are known to be involved in the regulation: 1) a modified sterol regulatory element (SRE) 1 (HSS-SRE-1), 2) an inverted SRE-3 (Inv-SRE-3), 3) an inverted Y box (Inv-Y-Box). We report here the regulatory role of distinct cis-elements in the HSS promoter by using mutants of an HSS-luciferase promoter reporter. The activity of a wild-type promoter reporter transiently transfected into HepG-2 cells is increased by sterol depletion of the cells or by coexpression of mature forms of the SRE-binding proteins (SREBP) 1a and SREBP-2. Differential activation by SREBP-1a and SREBP-2 of the reporter gene mutated at various regions of the promoter is observed. Mutation of either the HSS-SRE-1 or the Inv-SRE-3 sequence diminished the activation by SREBP-1a and by sterol depletion but did not affect the activation by SREBP-2. Simultaneous mutations of both of these sequences almost completely abolished activation of the promoter by SREBP-1a or by sterol depletion, but activation by SREBP-2 was retained at 70%. Mutation of the Inv-Y-Box sequence element decreased the activity of the promoter by 50% or more, and if mutated together with both SREs, the activation was almost completely abolished. Mutation of any single GC box of the two located at -40 to -57 did not affect activity, whereas simultaneous mutation of the two decreased activation by SREBP-2 by 60%, by lipid depletion by 20%, and had no effect on the activation by SREBP-1a. A Y box motif at -159 to -166 and an SRE-like sequence element (SRE-1(8/10)) at position -101 to -108 are also involved in the sterol regulation. These results indicate that the complex sterol-mediated transcriptional regulation of the HSS gene is due to the presence of multiple copies of diverse cis elements in the HSS promoter. The differential activation of the HSS promoter may point to specific role of the SREBPs in cholesterogenesis.