scholarly journals The carboxy-terminal transactivation domain of Oct-4 acquires cell specificity through the POU domain.

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Brehm ◽  
K Ohbo ◽  
H Schöler

The POU transcription factor Oct-4 is expressed in totipotent and pluripotent cells of the early mouse embryo and the germ cell lineage. Transactivation capacities of regions flanking the DNA binding domain of Oct-4 were analyzed in undifferentiated and differentiated cell lines. The amino- and carboxy-terminal regions (N domain and C domain) fused to the Gal4 DNA binding domain both functioned as transactivation domains in all cell lines tested. However, the C domain failed to activate transcription in some cell lines in the context of the native protein. The underlying regulatory mechanism appears to involve the POU domain of Oct-4 and can discriminate between different POU domains, since constructs in which the C domain was instead fused to the POU domain of Pit-1 were again equally active in all cell lines. These results indicate that the C domain is subject to cell-type-specific regulation mediated by the Oct-4 POU domain. Phosphopeptide analysis revealed that the cell-type-specific difference of C-domain activity correlates with a difference in Oct-4 phosphorylation status. Since Oct-4 is expressed in a variety of distinct cell types during murine embryogenesis, these results suggest an additional regulatory mechanism for determining Oct-4 function in rapidly changing cell types during development.

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4297-4304 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Ray ◽  
R Bosselut ◽  
J Ghysdael ◽  
M G Mattei ◽  
A Tavitian ◽  
...  

We have cloned a human cDNA from a new gene, spi-B, on the basis of its homology with the DNA-binding domain of the Spi-1/PU.1 putative oncogene product. spi-B codes for a protein of 262 amino acids presenting 43% overall identity with Spi-1. Its highly basic carboxy-terminal region exhibits 34% sequence identity with the DNA-binding domain of the Ets-1 protein. We showed that the Spi-B protein is able to bind the purine-rich sequence (PU box) recognized by Spi-1/PU.1 and to activate transcription of a reporter plasmid containing PU boxes. Chromosome in situ hybridization allowed us to map spi-B to the 19q13.3-19q13.4 region of the human genome. spi-B, like spi-1, was found to be expressed in various murine and human hematopoietic cell lines except T lymphoid cell lines.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4297-4304 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Ray ◽  
R Bosselut ◽  
J Ghysdael ◽  
M G Mattei ◽  
A Tavitian ◽  
...  

We have cloned a human cDNA from a new gene, spi-B, on the basis of its homology with the DNA-binding domain of the Spi-1/PU.1 putative oncogene product. spi-B codes for a protein of 262 amino acids presenting 43% overall identity with Spi-1. Its highly basic carboxy-terminal region exhibits 34% sequence identity with the DNA-binding domain of the Ets-1 protein. We showed that the Spi-B protein is able to bind the purine-rich sequence (PU box) recognized by Spi-1/PU.1 and to activate transcription of a reporter plasmid containing PU boxes. Chromosome in situ hybridization allowed us to map spi-B to the 19q13.3-19q13.4 region of the human genome. spi-B, like spi-1, was found to be expressed in various murine and human hematopoietic cell lines except T lymphoid cell lines.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Kumar ◽  
E. Brad Thompson

Abstract The N-terminal domains (NTDs) of many members of the nuclear hormone receptor (NHR) family contain potent transcription-activating functions (AFs). Knowledge of the mechanisms of action of the NTD AFs has lagged, compared with that concerning other important domains of the NHRs. In part, this is because the NTD AFs appear to be unfolded when expressed as recombinant proteins. Recent studies have begun to shed light on the structure and function of the NTD AFs. Recombinant NTD AFs can be made to fold by application of certain osmolytes or when expressed in conjunction with a DNA-binding domain by binding that DNA-binding domain to a DNA response element. The sequence of the DNA binding site may affect the functional state of the AFs domain. If properly folded, NTD AFs can bind certain cofactors and primary transcription factors. Through these, and/or by direct interactions, the NTD AFs may interact with the AF2 domain in the ligand binding, carboxy-terminal portion of the NHRs. We propose models for the folding of the NTD AFs and their protein-protein interactions.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 6056-6067
Author(s):  
M Tanaka ◽  
W Herr

The POU domain activator Oct-2 contains an N-terminal glutamine-rich transcriptional activation domain. An 18-amino-acid segment (Q18III) from this region reconstituted a fully functional activation domain when tandemly reiterated and fused to either the Oct-2 or GAL4 DNA-binding domain. A minimal transcriptional activation domain likely requires three tandem Q18III segments, because one or two tandem Q18III segments displayed little activity, whereas three to five tandem segments were active and displayed increasing activity with increasing copy number. As with natural Oct-2 activation domains, in our assay a reiterated activation domain required a second homologous or heterologous activation domain to stimulate transcription effectively when fused to the Oct-2 POU domain. These results suggest that there are different levels of synergy within and among activation domains. Analysis of reiterated activation domains containing mutated Q18III segments revealed that leucines and glutamines, but not serines or threonines, are critical for activity in vivo. Curiously, several reiterated activation domains that were inactive in vivo were active in vitro, suggesting that there are significant functional differences in our in vivo and in vitro assays. Reiteration of a second 18-amino-acid segment from the Oct-2 glutamine-rich activation domain (Q18II) was also active, but its activity was DNA-binding domain specific, because it was active when fused to the GAL4 than to the Oct-2 DNA-binding domain. The ability of separate short peptide segments derived from a single transcriptional activation domain to activate transcription after tandem reiteration emphasizes the flexible and modular nature of a transcriptional activation domain.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1209-1217
Author(s):  
C F Hardy ◽  
D Balderes ◽  
D Shore

RAP1 is an essential sequence-specific DNA-binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose binding sites are found in a large number of promoters, where they function as upstream activation sites, and at the silencer elements of the HMR and HML mating-type loci, where they are important for repression. We have examined the involvement of specific regions of the RAP1 protein in both repression and activation of transcription by studying the properties of a series of hybrid proteins containing RAP1 sequences fused to the DNA-binding domain of the yeast protein GAL4 (amino acids 1 to 147). GAL4 DNA-binding domain/RAP1 hybrids containing only the carboxy-terminal third of the RAP1 protein (which lacks the RAP1 DNA-binding domain) function as transcriptional activators of a reporter gene containing upstream GAL4 binding sites. Expression of some hybrids from the strong ADH1 promoter on multicopy plasmids has a dominant negative effect on silencers, leading to either partial or complete derepression of normally silenced genes. The GAL4/RAP1 hybrids have different effects on wild-type and several mutated but functional silencers. Silencers lacking either an autonomously replicating sequence consensus element or the RAP1 binding site are strongly derepressed, whereas the wild-type silencer or a silencer containing a deletion of the binding site for another silencer-binding protein, ABF1, are only weakly affected by hybrid expression. By examining a series of GAL4 DNA-binding domain/RAP1 hybrids, we have mapped the transcriptional activation and derepression functions to specific parts of the RAP1 carboxy terminus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1209-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
C F Hardy ◽  
D Balderes ◽  
D Shore

RAP1 is an essential sequence-specific DNA-binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose binding sites are found in a large number of promoters, where they function as upstream activation sites, and at the silencer elements of the HMR and HML mating-type loci, where they are important for repression. We have examined the involvement of specific regions of the RAP1 protein in both repression and activation of transcription by studying the properties of a series of hybrid proteins containing RAP1 sequences fused to the DNA-binding domain of the yeast protein GAL4 (amino acids 1 to 147). GAL4 DNA-binding domain/RAP1 hybrids containing only the carboxy-terminal third of the RAP1 protein (which lacks the RAP1 DNA-binding domain) function as transcriptional activators of a reporter gene containing upstream GAL4 binding sites. Expression of some hybrids from the strong ADH1 promoter on multicopy plasmids has a dominant negative effect on silencers, leading to either partial or complete derepression of normally silenced genes. The GAL4/RAP1 hybrids have different effects on wild-type and several mutated but functional silencers. Silencers lacking either an autonomously replicating sequence consensus element or the RAP1 binding site are strongly derepressed, whereas the wild-type silencer or a silencer containing a deletion of the binding site for another silencer-binding protein, ABF1, are only weakly affected by hybrid expression. By examining a series of GAL4 DNA-binding domain/RAP1 hybrids, we have mapped the transcriptional activation and derepression functions to specific parts of the RAP1 carboxy terminus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9799
Author(s):  
Priyanka Upadhyai ◽  
Vishal Singh Guleria ◽  
Prajna Udupa

Primary cilia are non-motile sensory antennae present on most vertebrate cell surfaces. They serve to transduce and integrate diverse external stimuli into functional cellular responses vital for development, differentiation and homeostasis. Ciliary characteristics, such as length, structure and frequency are often tailored to distinct differentiated cell states. Primary cilia are present on a variety of skeletal cell-types and facilitate the assimilation of sensory cues to direct skeletal development and repair. However, there is limited knowledge of ciliary variation in response to the activation of distinct differentiation cascades in different skeletal cell-types. C3H10T1/2, MC3T3-E1 and ATDC5 cells are mesenchymal stem cells, preosteoblast and prechondrocyte cell-lines, respectively. They are commonly employed in numerous in vitro studies, investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying osteoblast and chondrocyte differentiation, skeletal disease and repair. Here we sought to evaluate the primary cilia length and frequencies during osteogenic differentiation in C3H10T1/2 and MC3T3-E1 and chondrogenic differentiation in ATDC5 cells, over a period of 21 days. Our data inform on the presence of stable cilia to orchestrate signaling and dynamic alterations in their features during extended periods of differentiation. Taken together with existing literature these findings reflect the occurrence of not only lineage but cell-type specific variation in ciliary attributes during differentiation. These results extend our current knowledge, shining light on the variabilities in primary cilia features correlated with distinct differentiated cell phenotypes. It may have broader implications in studies using these cell-lines to explore cilia dependent cellular processes and treatment modalities for skeletal disorders centered on cilia modulation.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1955-1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Mittal ◽  
M A Cleary ◽  
W Herr ◽  
N Hernandez

The RNA polymerase II and III human small nuclear RNA promoters have a common basal element, the proximal sequence element, which binds the TATA box-binding protein-containing complex SNAPc. They also contain an enhancer characterized by a highly conserved octamer sequence, which constitutes a binding site for the broadly expressed POU domain transcription factor Oct-1. The POU domain is a bipartite DNA-binding domain consisting of a POU-homeo (POUH) domain and a POU-specific (POUs) domain joined by a flexible linker. Here, we show that the Oct-1 POU domain but not the related Pit-1 POU domain can facilitate the binding of SNAPc to the proximal sequence element, and activate transcription. The effect is probably mediated by protein-protein contacts, and 1 of 30 amino acid differences between the Oct-1 and Pit-1 POUs domains is the key determinant for the differential interaction with SNAPc and the ability to activate transcription. These results show that a function that is the hallmark of activation domains, namely, recruitment of a basal transcription complex resulting in activation of transcription, can be performed by a DNA-binding domain. In this case, subtle changes between activator DNA-binding domains, as subtle as a single amino acid difference, can profoundly affect interaction with the basal transcription machinery.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 267-276
Author(s):  
Eiríkur Steingrímsson ◽  
Heinz Arnheiter ◽  
Jón Hallsteinn Hallsson ◽  
M Lynn Lamoreux ◽  
Neal G Copeland ◽  
...  

Abstract Mutations at the mouse microphthalmia locus (Mitf) affect the development of different cell types, including melanocytes, retinal pigment epithelial cells of the eye, and osteoclasts. The MITF protein is a member of the MYC supergene family of basic-helix-loop-helix-leucine-zipper (bHLHZip) transcription factors and is known to regulate the expression of cell-specific target genes by binding DNA as homodimer or as heterodimer with related proteins. The many mutations isolated at the locus have different effects on the phenotype and can be arranged in an allelic series in which the phenotypes range from near normal to white microphthalmic animals with osteopetrosis. Previous investigations have shown that certain combinations of Mitf alleles complement each other, resulting in a phenotype more normal than that of each homozygote alone. Here we analyze this interallelic complementation in detail and show that it is limited to one particular allele, MitfMi-white (MitfMi-wh), a mutation affecting the DNA-binding domain. Both loss- and gain-of-function mutations are complemented, as are other Mitf mutations affecting the DNA-binding domain. Furthermore, this behavior is not restricted to particular cell types: Both eye development and coat color phenotypes are complemented. Our analysis suggests that MitfMi-wh-associated interallelic complementation is due to the unique biochemical nature of this mutation.


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