scholarly journals Distinct roles of the molecular chaperone hsp90 in modulating dioxin receptor function via the basic helix-loop-helix and PAS domains.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 756-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Antonsson ◽  
M L Whitelaw ◽  
J McGuire ◽  
J A Gustafsson ◽  
L Poellinger

The intracellular dioxin receptor mediates signal transduction by dioxin and functions as a ligand-activated transcription factor. It contains a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) motif contiguous with a Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) homology region. In extracts from nonstimulated cells the receptor is recovered in an inducible cytoplasmic form associated with the 90-kDa heat shock protein (hsp90), a molecular chaperone. We have reconstituted ligand-dependent activation of the receptor to a DNA-binding form by using the dioxin receptor and its bHLH-PAS partner factor Arnt expressed by in vitro translation in reticulocyte lysate. Deletion of the PAS domain of the receptor resulted in constitutive dimerization with Arnt. In contrast, this receptor mutant showed low levels of xenobiotic response element-binding activity, indicating that the PAS domain may be important for DNA-binding affinity and/or specificity of the receptor. It was not possible to reconstitute dioxin receptor function with proteins expressed in wheat germ lysate. In line with these observations, reticulocyte lysate but not wheat germ lysate promoted the association of de novo synthesized dioxin receptor with hsp90. At least two distinct domains of the receptor mediated interaction with hsp90: the ligand-binding domain located within the PAS region and, surprisingly, the bHLH domain. Whereas ligand-binding activity correlated with association with hsp90, bHLH-hsp90 interaction appeared to be important for DNA-binding activity but not for dimerization of the receptor. Several distinct roles for hsp90 in modulating dioxin receptor function are therefore likely: correct folding of the ligand-binding domain, interference with Arnt heterodimerization, and folding of a DNA-binding conformation of the bHLH domain. Thus, the dioxin receptor system provides a complex and interesting model of the regulation of transcription factors by hsp90.

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.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 5221-5231 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Gradin ◽  
J McGuire ◽  
R H Wenger ◽  
I Kvietikova ◽  
M L fhitelaw ◽  
...  

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) and the intracellular dioxin receptor mediate hypoxia and dioxin signalling, respectively. Both proteins are conditionally regulated basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors that, in addition to the bHLH motif, share a Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) region of homology and form heterodimeric complexes with the common bHLH/PAS partner factor Arnt. Here we demonstrate that HIF-1 alpha required Arnt for DNA binding in vitro and functional activity in vivo. Both the bHLH and PAS motifs of Arnt were critical for dimerization with HIF-1 alpha. Strikingly, HIF-1 alpha exhibited very high affinity for Arnt in coimmunoprecipitation assays in vitro, resulting in competition with the ligand-activated dioxin receptor for recruitment of Arnt. Consistent with these observations, activation of HIF-1 alpha function in vivo or overexpression of HIF-1 alpha inhibited ligand-dependent induction of DNA binding activity by the dioxin receptor and dioxin receptor function on minimal reporter gene constructs. However, HIF-1 alpha- and dioxin receptor-mediated signalling pathways were not mutually exclusive, since activation of dioxin receptor function did not impair HIF-1 alpha-dependent induction of target gene expression. Both HIF-1 alpha and Arnt mRNAs were expressed constitutively in a large number of human tissues and cell lines, and these steady-state expression levels were not affected by exposure to hypoxia. Thus, HIF-1 alpha may be conditionally regulated by a mechanism that is distinct from induced expression levels, the prevalent model of activation of HIF-1 alpha function. Interestingly, we observed that HIF-1 alpha was associated with the molecular chaperone hsp90. Given the critical role of hsp90 for ligand binding activity and activation of the dioxin receptor, it is therefore possible that HIF-1 alpha is regulated by a similar mechanism, possibly by binding an as yet unknown class of ligands.


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.


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.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 4536-4543 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Bailly ◽  
S Prakash ◽  
L Prakash

The RAD6 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme required for postreplicational repair of UV-damaged DNA and for damage-induced mutagenesis. In addition, Rad6 functions in the N end rule pathway of protein degradation. Rad6 mediates its DNA repair role via its association with Rad18, whose DNA binding activity may target the Rad6-Rad18 complex to damaged sites in DNA. In its role in N end-dependent protein degradation, Rad6 interacts with the UBR1-encoded ubiquitin protein ligase (E3) enzyme. Previous studies have indicated the involvement of N-terminal and C-terminal regions of Rad6 in interactions with Ubr1. Here, we identify the regions of Rad6 and Rad18 that are involved in the dimerization of these two proteins. We show that a region of 40 amino acids towards the C terminus of Rad18 (residues 371 to 410) is sufficient for interaction with Rad6. This region of Rad18 contains a number of nonpolar residues that have been conserved in helix-loop-helix motifs of other proteins. Our studies indicate the requirement for residues 141 to 149 at the C terminus, and suggest the involvement of residues 10 to 22 at the N terminus of Rad6, in the interaction with Rad18. Each of these regions of Rad6 is indicated to form an amphipathic helix.


1990 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Wilhelmsson ◽  
S. Cuthill ◽  
M. Denis ◽  
A.C. Wikström ◽  
J.A. Gustafsson ◽  
...  

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1256-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
H L Hsu ◽  
L Huang ◽  
J T Tsan ◽  
W Funk ◽  
W E Wright ◽  
...  

Tumor-specific activation of the TAL1 gene is the most common genetic alteration seen in patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The TAL1 gene products contain the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domain, a protein dimerization and DNA-binding motif common to several known transcription factors. A binding-site selection procedure has now been used to evaluate the DNA recognition properties of TAL1. These studies demonstrate that TAL1 polypeptides do not have intrinsic DNA-binding activity, presumably because of their inability to form bHLH homodimers. However, TAL1 readily interacts with any of the known class A bHLH proteins (E12, E47, E2-2, and HEB) to form heterodimers that bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner. The TAL1 heterodimers preferentially recognize a subset of E-box elements (CANNTG) that can be represented by the consensus sequence AACAGATGGT. This consensus is composed of half-sites for recognition by the participating class A bHLH polypeptide (AACAG) and the TAL1 polypeptide (ATGGT). TAL1 heterodimers with DNA-binding activity are readily detected in nuclear extracts of Jurkat, a leukemic cell line derived from a patient with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Hence, TAL1 is likely to bind and regulate the transcription of a unique subset of subordinate target genes, some of which may mediate the malignant function of TAL1 during T-cell leukemogenesis.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 6080-6089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuya Iso ◽  
Vittorio Sartorelli ◽  
Coralie Poizat ◽  
Simona Iezzi ◽  
Hung-Yi Wu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT HERP1 and -2 are members of a new basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein family closely related to HES/E(spl), the only previously known Notch effector. Like that of HES, HERP mRNA expression is directly up-regulated by Notch ligand binding without de novo protein synthesis. HES and HERP are individually expressed in certain cells, but they are also coexpressed within single cells after Notch stimulation. Here, we show that HERP has intrinsic transcriptional repression activity. Transcriptional repression by HES/E(spl) entails the recruitment of the corepressor TLE/Groucho via a conserved WRPW motif, whereas unexpectedly the corresponding—but modified—tetrapeptide motif in HERP confers marginal repression. Rather, HERP uses its bHLH domain to recruit the mSin3 complex containing histone deacetylase HDAC1 and an additional corepressor, N-CoR, to mediate repression. HES and HERP homodimers bind similar DNA sequences, but with distinct sequence preferences, and they repress transcription from specific DNA binding sites. Importantly, HES and HERP associate with each other in solution and form a stable HES-HERP heterodimer upon DNA binding. HES-HERP heterodimers have both a greater DNA binding activity and a stronger repression activity than do the respective homodimers. Thus, Notch signaling relies on cooperation between HES and HERP, two transcriptional repressors with distinctive repression mechanisms which, either as homo- or as heterodimers, regulate target gene expression.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 862-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Shih Chen ◽  
Rainer Claus ◽  
David M. Lucas ◽  
Lianbo Yu ◽  
Jiang Qian ◽  
...  

Abstract Inhibitor of DNA binding protein 4 (ID4) is a member of the dominant-negative basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor family that lacks DNA binding activity and has tumor suppressor function. ID4 promoter methylation has been reported in acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), although the expression, function, and clinical relevance of this gene have not been characterized in either disease. We demonstrate that the promoter of ID4 is consistently methylated to various degrees in CLL cells, and increased promoter methylation in a univariable analysis correlates with shortened patient survival. However, ID4 mRNA and protein expression is uniformly silenced in CLL cells irrespective of the degree of promoter methylation. The crossing of ID4+/− mice with Eμ-TCL1 mice triggers a more aggressive murine CLL as measured by lymphocyte count and inferior survival. Hemizygous loss of ID4 in nontransformed TCL1-positive B cells enhances cell proliferation triggered by CpG oligonucleotides and decreases sensitivity to dexamethasone-mediated apoptosis. Collectively, this study confirms the importance of the silencing of ID4 in murine and human CLL pathogenesis.


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