KTF-1, a transcriptional activator of Xenopus embryonic keratin expression

Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Snape ◽  
E.A. Jonas ◽  
T.D. Sargent

Nuclear extracts from embryos of Xenopus laevis were shown to contain a protein activity, KTF-1, which binds in vitro to the promoter of the embryonic, epidermis-specific keratin gene, XK81A1. Mobility shift assays, methylation interference and footprinting analysis were used to show that the KTF-1 binding site contains an imperfect, palindromic sequence, ACCCTGAGGCT. This sequence occurs once in the XK81A1 promoter, 152–162 base pairs upstream of the transcription start site. A construct of the keratin gene in which this sequence was altered so that it no longer binds KTF-1 in vitro showed severely reduced transcription levels upon injection into Xenopus embryos, but retained epidermal specificity. Addition of KTF-1 binding sites also enhanced epidermal and non-epidermal activity of a heterologous promoter, Xenopus beta-globin, in embryos. These results suggest that KTF-1 is a general activator of embryonic keratin transcription, which acts in concert with other factors to produce high levels of epidermis-specific expression.

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3860-3871
Author(s):  
P L Sawaya ◽  
B R Stripp ◽  
J A Whitsett ◽  
D S Luse

We have shown that a large fragment (-2339 to +57) from the rat CC10 gene directed lung-specific expression of a reporter construct in transgenic animals. Upon transfection, a smaller fragment (-165 to +57) supported reporter gene expression exclusively in the Clara cell-like NCI-H441 cell line, suggesting that a Clara cell-specific transcriptional element resided on this fragment (B. R. Stripp, P. L. Sawaya, D. S. Luse, K. A. Wikenheiser, S. E. Wert, J. A. Huffman, D. L. Lattier, G. Singh, S. L. Katyal, and J. A. Whitsett, J. Biol. Chem. 267:14703-14712, 1992). The interactions of nuclear proteins with a particular segment of the CC10 promoter which extends from 79 to 128 bp upstream of the CC10 transcription initiation site (CC10 region I) have now been studied. This sequence can stimulate both in vitro transcription in H441 nuclear extract and transient expression of reporter constructs in H441 cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using extracts from H441, HeLa, rat liver, and fetal sheep lung cells were used to demonstrate that members of the AP-1, octamer, and HNF-3 families bind to CC10 region I. Transcription factors from H441 cells which are capable of binding to CC10 region I are either absent in HeLa, rat liver, and fetal sheep lung extracts or enriched in H441 extracts relative to extracts from non-Clara cells.


Blood ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 2781-2790
Author(s):  
DE Fleenor ◽  
RE Kaufman

The members of the human beta globin gene family are flanked by strong DNase I hypersensitive sites. The collection of sites 5' to the epsilon globin gene is able to confer high levels of expression of linked globin genes, but a function has not been assigned to the site 3' to the beta globin gene (3'HS1). Our analysis of this DNase I super hypersensitive site shows that the region is composed of multiple DNase I sites. By examination of the DNA sequence, we have determined that the region is very A/T-rich and contains topoisomerase II recognition sequences, as well as several consensus binding motifs for GATA-1 and AP-1/NF-E2. Gel mobility shift assays indicate that the region can interact in vitro with GATA-1 and AP-1/NF-E2, and functional studies show that the region serves as a scaffold attachment region in both erythroid and nonerythroid cell lines. Whereas many of the physical features of 3'HS1 are shared by 5'HS2 (a component of the 5' locus control region), transient expression studies show that 3' HS1 does not share the erythroid-specific enhancer activity exhibited by 5'HS2.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 3331-3336
Author(s):  
K Y Song ◽  
L Chekuri ◽  
S Rauth ◽  
S Ehrlich ◽  
R Kucherlapati

We examined the effect of double-strand breaks on homologous recombination between two plasmids in human cells and in nuclear extracts prepared from human and rodent cells. Two pSV2neo plasmids containing nonreverting, nonoverlapping deletions were cotransfected into cells or incubated with cell extracts. Generation of intact neo genes was monitored by the ability of the DNA to confer G418r to cells or Neor to bacteria. We show that double-strand breaks at the sites of the deletions enhanced recombination frequency, whereas breaks outside the neo gene had no effect. Examination of the plasmids obtained from experiments involving the cell extracts revealed that gene conversion events play an important role in the generation of plasmids containing intact neo genes. Studies with plasmids carrying multiple polymorphic genetic markers revealed that markers located within 1,000 base pairs could be readily coconverted. The frequency of coconversion decreased with increasing distance between the markers. The plasmids we constructed along with the in vitro system should permit a detailed analysis of homologous recombinational events mediated by mammalian enzymes.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1383-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y H Lee ◽  
M Yano ◽  
S Y Liu ◽  
E Matsunaga ◽  
P F Johnson ◽  
...  

The rat CYP2D5 gene encodes a cytochrome P450 and is expressed in liver cells. Its expression commences a few days after birth, and maximal mRNA levels are achieved when animals reach puberty. Transfection and DNA binding studies were performed to investigate the mechanism controlling developmentally programmed, liver-specific expression of CYP2D5. Transfection studies using a series of CYP2D5 upstream DNA chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene fusion constructs identified a segment of DNA between nucleotides -55 and -156 that conferred transcriptional activity in HepG2 cells. Activity was markedly increased by cotransfection with a vector expressing C/EBP beta but was unaffected by vectors producing other liver-enriched transcription factors (C/EBP alpha, HNF-1 alpha, and DBP). DNase I footprinting revealed a region protected by both HepG2 and liver cell nuclear extracts between nucleotides -83 and -112. This region displayed some sequence similarity to the Sp1 consensus sequence and was able to bind the Sp1 protein, as assessed by a gel mobility shift assay. The role of Sp1 in CYP2D5 transcription was confirmed by trans activation of the 2D5-CAT construct in Drosophila melanogaster cells by using an Sp1 expression vector. C/EBP beta alone was unable to directly bind the -83 to -112 region of the promoter but was able to produce a ternary complex when combined with HepG2 nuclear extracts or recombinant human Sp1. C/EBP alpha was unable to substitute for C/EBP beta in forming this ternary complex. A poor C/EBP binding site is present adjacent to the Sp1 site, and mutagenesis of this site abolished formation of the ternary complex with the CYP2D5 regulatory region. These result establish that two transcription factors can work in conjunction, possibly by protein-protein interaction, to activate the CYP2D5 gene.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (12) ◽  
pp. 4351-4359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Goss

ABSTRACT The lysine-sensitive factor that binds to the upstream region of the Klebsiella pneumoniae gdhA promoter and stimulates gdhA transcription during growth in minimal medium has been proposed to be the K. pneumoniae ArgP protein (M. R. Nandineni, R. S. Laishram, and J. Gowrishankar, J. Bacteriol. 186:6391-6399, 2004). A knockout mutation of the K. pneumoniae argP gene was generated and used to assess the roles of exogenous lysine and argP in the regulation of the gdhA promoter. Disruption of argP reduced the strength and the lysine-dependent regulation of the gdhA promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using crude extracts prepared from wild-type and argP-defective strains indicted the presence of an argP-dependent factor whose ability to bind the gdhA promoter was lysine sensitive. DNase I footprinting studies using purified K. pneumoniae ArgP protein indicated that ArgP bound the region that lies approximately 50 to 100 base pairs upstream of the gdhA transcription start site in a manner that was sensitive to the presence of lysine. Substitutions within the region bound by ArgP affected the binding of ArgP to the gdhA promoter region in vitro and the argP-dependent stimulation of the gdhA promoter in vivo. These observations suggest that elevated intracellular levels of lysine reduce the affinity of ArgP for its binding site at the gdhA promoter, preventing ArgP from binding to and stimulating transcription from the promoter in vivo.


1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
SG Ball ◽  
J Sokolov ◽  
WW Chin

Recent data have suggested that the iodothyronine, 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine (T2), has selective thyromimetic activity. In vivo, T2 has been shown to suppress TSH levels at doses that do not produce significant peripheral manifestations of thyroid hormone activity. Furthermore, T2 has been shown to produce smaller increments in peripheral indices of thyroid status than does T3, when doses resulting in equivalent suppression of circulating TSH are compared. We have assessed the selective thyromimetic activity of T2 in vivo and in vitro, and performed in vitro studies to assess the potential molecular basis for these selective properties. T2 was 100-fold less potent than T3 in stimulating GH mRNA levels in GH3 cells. In contrast, the iodothyronines were almost equivalent in their ability to downregulate TRbeta2 mRNA levels in this cell line. Both 3,3'-diiodo-L-thyronine and thyronine exhibited no significant thyromimetic effects on either process. In vivo, doses of T2 and T3 that were equivalent in their induction of hepatic malic enzyme (ME) mRNA did not produce equivalent suppression of circulating TSH, with T2 being only 27% as effective as T3. T2 was up to 500-fold less potent than T3 in displacing [125I]-T3 from in vitro translated specific nuclear receptors (TRs) and GH3 cell nuclear extracts. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays, assessing the ability of T2 to produce dissociation of TRbeta1 homodimers from inverted palindrome T3 response elements, indicated that T2 was also 1000-fold less potent than T3 in this respect. These data confirm that T2 has significant thyromimetic activity, and that this activity is selective both in vivo and in vitro. However, there are no data to support a selective central effect, T2 being relatively more potent in stimulating hepatic ME mRNA than in suppression of TSH in vivo. The basis for this differential thyromimetic activity is not selective affinity of the different TR isoforms for T2, or divergent properties of T2 in competitive binding and functional assays in vitro.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (17) ◽  
pp. 4234-4244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Raum ◽  
Chad S. Hunter ◽  
Isabella Artner ◽  
Eva Henderson ◽  
Min Guo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT MafA is a key transcriptional activator of islet β cells, and its exclusive expression within β cells of the developing and adult pancreas is distinct among pancreatic regulators. Region 3 (base pairs −8118 to −7750 relative to the transcription start site), one of six conserved 5′ cis domains of the MafA promoter, is capable of directing β-cell-line-selective expression. Transgenic reporters of region 3 alone (R3), sequences spanning regions 1 to 6 (R1-6; base pairs −10428 to +230), and R1-6 lacking R3 (R1-6ΔR3) were generated. Only the R1-6 transgene was active in MafA+ insulin+ cells during development and in adult cells. R1-6 also mediated glucose-induced MafA expression. Conversely, pancreatic expression was not observed with the R3 or R1-6ΔR3 line, although much of the nonpancreatic expression pattern was shared between the R1-6 and R1-6ΔR3 lines. Further support for the importance of R3 was also shown, as the islet regulators Nkx6.1 and Pax6, but not NeuroD1, activated MafA in gel shift, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and transfection assays and in vivo mouse knockout models. Lastly, ChIP demonstrated that Pax6 and Pdx-1 also bound to R1 and R6, potentially functioning in pancreatic and nonpancreatic expression. These data highlight the nature of the cis- and trans-acting factors controlling the β-cell-specific expression of MafA.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1290-1300
Author(s):  
H Watanabe ◽  
T Imai ◽  
P A Sharp ◽  
H Handa

Two kinds of trans-acting factors that regulate transcription from the promoter of the adenovirus early-region 4 (E4) have been identified by reconstituting nuclear extracts of HeLa cells. They were designated E4TF1 and E4TF3 for E4 transcription factors. These factors were responsible for efficient and accurate transcription in vitro from the E4 promoter, as were another transcription factor, designated E4TF2, and a crude fraction containing endogenous RNA polymerase II. E4TF1 stimulated transcription from the E4 promoter but not from the major late promoter or the E4 mutant promoter lacking the E4TF1-binding site. Footprint analysis of E4TF1 revealed that it binds to a specific region, residing between 132 and 152 base pairs upstream from the initiation site of the E4 mRNA. E4TF3 also regulated transcription from the E4 promoter. E4TF3 protected four ca. 20-base-pair regions in a DNase I footprinting assay. They were located around 40, 160, 230, and 260 base pairs upstream from the initiation site of E4 mRNA. Specific inhibition of E4 transcription was observed by addition of DNA fragments covering one of the E4TF1- and E4TF3-binding sites to in vitro transcription assays. These results suggest that both E4TF1 and E4TF3 regulate E4 transcription by binding to the specific upstream elements in the E4 promoter. These factors may be involved in the E1A transactivation of E4 transcription.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1564-1572
Author(s):  
J Whelan ◽  
S R Cordle ◽  
E Henderson ◽  
P A Weil ◽  
R Stein

The insulin gene is expressed almost exclusively in pancreatic beta-cells. Previous work in our laboratory has shown that pancreatic beta-cell-specific expression of the rat insulin II gene is controlled by a number of positive and negative cis-acting DNA elements within the enhancer. We have shown that one element within the enhancer, located between nucleotides -100 and -91 (GCCATCTGCT; referred to as the insulin control element [ICE]) relative to the transcription start site, is controlled by both positive- and negative-acting cellular transcription factors. The positive-acting factor appears to be uniquely active in beta-cells. To identify the nucleotides within the ICE that mediate positive cell-type-specific regulation, point mutations within this element were generated and assayed for their effects on expression. Base pairs -97, -94, -93, and -92 were found to be crucial for the activator function of this region, while mutations at base pairs -100, -96, and -91 had little or no effect on activity. The gel mobility shift assay was used to determine whether specific cellular factors associated directly with the ICE. Several specific protein-DNA complexes were detected in extracts prepared from insulin-producing and non-insulin-producing cells, including a complex unique to beta-cell extracts. The ability of unlabeled wild-type and point mutant versions of the ICE to compete for binding to these cellular factors demonstrated that the beta-cell-specific complex appears to contain the insulin gene activator protein(s). Interestingly, the adenovirus type 2 major late promoter upstream element (USE; GCCACGTGAC) also competed in the gel mobility shift assay for binding of cellular proteins to the ICE.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2513-2522
Author(s):  
J Gottlieb ◽  
N Muzyczka

When circular recombinant plasmids containing adeno-associated virus (AAV) DNA sequences are transfected into human cells, the AAV provirus is rescued. Using these circular AAV plasmids as substrates, we isolated an enzyme fraction from HeLa cell nuclear extracts that excises intact AAV DNA in vitro from vector DNA and produces linear DNA products. The recognition signal for the enzyme is a polypurine-polypyrimidine sequence which is at least 9 residues long and rich in G.C base pairs. Such sequences are present in AAV recombinant plasmids as part of the first 15 base pairs of the AAV terminal repeat and in some cases as the result of cloning the AAV genome by G.C tailing. The isolated enzyme fraction does not have significant endonucleolytic activity on single-stranded or double-stranded DNA. Plasmid DNA that is transfected into tissue culture cells is cleaved in vivo to produce a pattern of DNA fragments similar to that seen with purified enzyme in vitro. The activity has been called endo R for rescue, and its behavior suggests that it may have a role in recombination of cellular chromosomes.


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