scholarly journals Ras p21Val inhibits myogenesis without altering the DNA binding or transcriptional activities of the myogenic basic helix-loop-helix factors.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 5205-5213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Kong ◽  
S E Johnson ◽  
E J Taparowsky ◽  
S F Konieczny

MRF4, MyoD, myogenin, and Myf-5 are muscle-specific basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that share the ability to activate the expression of skeletal muscle genes such as those encoding alpha-actin, myosin heavy chain, and the acetylcholine receptor subunits. The muscle regulatory factors (MRFs) also exhibit the unique capacity to initiate the myogenic program when ectopically expressed in a variety of nonmuscle cell types, most notably C3H10T1/2 fibroblasts (10T1/2 cells). The commitment of myoblasts to terminal differentiation, although positively regulated by the MRFs, also is controlled negatively by a variety of agents, including several growth factors and oncoproteins such as fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), and Ras p21Val. The molecular mechanisms by which these varied agents alter myogenic terminal differentiation events remain unclear. In an effort to establish whether Ras p21Val represses MRF activity by directly targeting the MRF proteins, we examined the DNA binding and transcription activation potentials of MRF4 and MyoD when expressed in 10T1/2 cells or in 10T1/2 cells expressing Ras p21Val. Our results demonstrate that Ras p21Val inhibits terminal differentiation events by targeting the basic domain of the MRFs, and yet the mechanism underlying this inhibition does not involve altering the DNA binding or the inherent transcriptional activity of these regulatory factors. In contrast, FGF-2 and TGF-beta 1 block terminal differentiation by repressing the transcriptional activity of the MRFs. We conclude that the Ras p21Val block in differentiation operates via an intracellular signaling pathway that is distinct from the FGF-2 and TGF-beta 1 pathways.

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1056-1067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira T. Kassouf ◽  
Hedia Chagraoui ◽  
Paresh Vyas ◽  
Catherine Porcher

Abstract Dissecting the molecular mechanisms used by developmental regulators is essential to understand tissue specification/differentiation. SCL/TAL-1 is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor absolutely critical for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell specification and lineage maturation. Using in vitro and forced expression experimental systems, we previously suggested that SCL might have DNA-binding–independent functions. Here, to assess the requirements for SCL DNA-binding activity in vivo, we examined hematopoietic development in mice carrying a germline DNA-binding mutation. Remarkably, in contrast to complete absence of hematopoiesis and early lethality in scl-null embryos, specification of hematopoietic cells occurred in homozygous mutant embryos, indicating that direct DNA binding is dispensable for this process. Lethality was forestalled to later in development, although some mice survived to adulthood. Anemia was documented throughout development and in adulthood. Cellular and molecular studies showed requirements for SCL direct DNA binding in red cell maturation and indicated that scl expression is positively autoregulated in terminally differentiating erythroid cells. Thus, different mechanisms of SCL's action predominate depending on the developmental/cellular context: indirect DNA binding activities and/or sequestration of other nuclear regulators are sufficient in specification processes, whereas direct DNA binding functions with transcriptional autoregulation are critically required in terminal maturation processes.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 8343-8355
Author(s):  
M L Whitelaw ◽  
J A Gustafsson ◽  
L Poellinger

Gene regulation by dioxins is mediated via the dioxin receptor, a ligand-dependent basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)/PAS transcription factor. The latent dioxin receptor responds to dioxin signalling by forming an activated heterodimeric complex with a specific bHLH partner, Arnt, an essential process for target DNA recognition. We have analyzed the transactivating potential within this heterodimeric complex by dissecting it into individual subunits, replacing the dimerization and DNA-binding bHLH motifs with heterologous zinc finger DNA-binding domains. The uncoupled Arnt chimera, maintaining 84% of Arnt residues, forms a potent and constitutive transcription factor. Chimeric proteins show that the dioxin receptor also harbors a strong transactivation domain in the C terminus, although this activity was silenced by inclusion of 82 amino acids from the central ligand-binding portion of the dioxin receptor. This central repression region conferred binding of the molecular chaperone hsp90 upon otherwise constitutive chimeras in vitro, indicating that hsp90 has the ability to mediate a cis-repressive function on distant transactivation domains. Importantly, when the ligand-binding domain of the dioxin receptor remained intact, the ability of this hsp90-binding activity to confer repression became conditional rather than irreversible. Our data are consistent with a model in which crucial activities of the dioxin receptor, such as dimerization with Arnt and transactivation, are conditionally repressed by the central ligand- and-hsp90-binding region of the receptor. In contrast, the Arnt protein appears to be free from any repressive activity. Moreover, within the context of the dioxin response element (xenobiotic response element), the C terminus of Arnt conferred a potent, dominating transactivation function onto the native bHLH heterodimeric complex. Finally, the relative transactivation potencies of the individual dioxin receptor and Arnt chimeras varied with cell type and promoter architecture, indicating that the mechanisms for transcriptional activation may differ between these two subunits and that in the native complex the transactivation pathway may be dependent upon cell-specific and promoter contexts.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 817-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Roman ◽  
A G Matera ◽  
C Cooper ◽  
S Artandi ◽  
S Blain ◽  
...  

Southwestern (DNA-protein) screening of a murine L-cell cDNA library by using a probe for the microE3 site in the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer yielded a clone, mTFE3, which is a member of the subset of basic helix-loop-helix (BHLH) proteins that also contain a leucine zipper (ZIP). Since the individual contribution of these domains is not well understood for proteins which contain them both, mutational analyses were performed to assess the functional roles of the HLH and ZIP regions for DNA binding and multimerization. The HLH region is stringently required for DNA binding but not for multimerization. The ZIP region is not stringently required for binding or multimerization, but stabilizes both multimer formation and DNA binding. A high degree of conservation at both the amino acid and nucleotide levels between the human transcription factor TFE3 and mTFE3 suggests that mTFE3 is the murine homolog of human TFE3. By using fluorescent in situ hybridization, mTFE3 was mapped to mouse chromosome X in band A2, which is just below the centromere. We show that in addition to the immunoglobulin heavy-chain microE3 site, mTFE3 binds to transcriptional elements important for lymphoid-specific, muscle-specific, and ubiquitously expressed genes. Binding of mTFE3 to DNA induces DNA bending.


Biochemistry ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (35) ◽  
pp. 11026-11036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Meierhans ◽  
Chirine el-Ariss ◽  
Margrit Neuenschwander ◽  
Martin Sieber ◽  
Joseph F. Stackhouse ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 5059-5068 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Shaknovich ◽  
G Shue ◽  
D S Kohtz

A murine cardiac lambda gt11 expression library was screened with an amphipathic helix antibody, and a recombinant representing the C-terminal 194 residues of murine HSP90 (HSP84) was cloned. Both recombinant and native HSP90s were then found to rapidly convert a basic helix-loop-helix protein (MyoD1) from an inactive to an active conformation, as assayed by sequence-specific DNA binding. The conversion process involves a transient interaction between HSP90 and MyoD1 and does not result in the formation of a stable tertiary complex. Conversion does not require ATP and occurs stoichiometrically in a dose-dependent fashion. HSP90 is an abundant, ubiquitous, and highly conserved protein present in most eukaryotic cells. These results provide direct evidence that HSP90 can affect the conformational structure of a DNA-binding protein.


2018 ◽  
Vol 293 (24) ◽  
pp. 9301-9310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Macek ◽  
Matthew J. Cliff ◽  
Kevin J. Embrey ◽  
Geoffrey A. Holdgate ◽  
J. Willem M. Nissink ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Liu ◽  
P Cserjesi ◽  
A Nifuji ◽  
E N Olson ◽  
M Noda

Abstract Scleraxis is a recently identified transcription factor with a basic helix-loop-helix motif, which is expressed in sclerotome during embryonic development. We have examined the expression of scleraxis mRNA in rat osteoblastic cells and found that the scleraxis gene was expressed as a 1·2 kb mRNA species in osteoblastic osteosarcoma ROS 17/2·8 cells. The scleraxis mRNA expression was enhanced by type-β transforming growth factor (TGFβ) treatment. The TGFβ effect was observed in a dosedependent manner starting at 0·2 ng/ml and saturating at 2 ng/ml. The effect was time-dependent and was first observed within 12 h and peaked at 24 h. The TGFβ effect was blocked by cycloheximide, while no effect on scleraxis mRNA stability was observed. TGFβ treatment enhanced scleraxis-E box (Scx-E) binding activity in the nuclear extracts of ROS17/2·8 cells. Furthermore, TGFβ enhanced transcriptional activity of the CAT constructs which contain the Scx-E box sequence. TGFβ treatment also enhanced scleraxis gene expression in osteoblastenriched cells derived from primary rat calvaria. These findings indicated for the first time that the novel helixloop-helix type transcription factor (scleraxis) mRNA is expressed in osteoblasts and its expression is regulated by TGFβ. Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 151, 491–499


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