Regulation of Hox target genes by a DNA bound Homothorax/Hox/Extradenticle complex

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (22) ◽  
pp. 5137-5148 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.D. Ryoo ◽  
T. Marty ◽  
F. Casares ◽  
M. Affolter ◽  
R.S. Mann

To regulate their target genes, the Hox proteins of Drosophila often bind to DNA as heterodimers with the homeodomain protein Extradenticle (EXD). For EXD to bind DNA, it must be in the nucleus, and its nuclear localization requires a third homeodomain protein, Homothorax (HTH). Here we show that a conserved N-terminal domain of HTH directly binds to EXD in vitro, and is sufficient to induce the nuclear localization of EXD in vivo. However, mutating a key DNA binding residue in the HTH homeodomain abolishes many of its in vivo functions. HTH binds to DNA as part of a HTH/Hox/EXD trimeric complex, and we show that this complex is essential for the activation of a natural Hox target enhancer. Using a dominant negative form of HTH we provide evidence that similar complexes are important for several Hox- and exd-mediated functions in vivo. These data suggest that Hox proteins often function as part of a multiprotein complex, composed of HTH, Hox, and EXD proteins, bound to DNA.

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (24) ◽  
pp. 8934-8945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Magné ◽  
Sandrine Caron ◽  
Martine Charon ◽  
Marie-Christine Rouyez ◽  
Isabelle Dusanter-Fourt

ABSTRACT Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) is activated by numerous cytokines that control blood cell development. STAT5 was also shown to actively participate in leukemogenesis. Among the target genes involved in cell growth, STAT5 had been shown to activate cyclin D1 gene expression. We now show that thrombopoietin-dependent activation of the cyclin D1 promoter depends on the integrity of a new bipartite proximal element that specifically binds STAT5A and -B transcription factors. We demonstrate that the stable recruitment of STAT5 to this element in vitro requires the integrity of an adjacent octamer element that constitutively binds the ubiquitous POU homeodomain protein Oct-1. We observe that cytokine-activated STAT5 and Oct-1 form a unique complex with the cyclin D1 promoter sequence. We find that STAT5 interacts with Oct-1 in vivo, following activation by different cytokines in various cellular contexts. This interaction involves a small motif in the carboxy-terminal region of STAT5 which, remarkably, is similar to an Oct-1 POU-interacting motif present in two well-known partners of Oct-1, namely, OBF-1/Bob and SNAP190. Our data offer new insights into the transcriptional regulation of the key cell cycle regulator cyclin D1 and emphasize the active roles of both STAT5 and Oct-1 in this process.


2005 ◽  
Vol 280 (43) ◽  
pp. 36228-36236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin M. Luo ◽  
A. Catharine Ross

Synergistic actions between all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) and interferon γ (IFNγ) on modulation of cellular functions have been reported both in vitro and in vivo. However, the mechanism of atRA-mediated regulation of IFNγ signaling is poorly understood. In this study, we have used the human lung epithelial cell line A549 to examine the effect of atRA on IFNγ-induced expression of IFN regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1), an important transcription factor involved in cell growth and apoptosis, differentiation, and antiviral and antibacterial immune responses. At least 4 h of pretreatment with atRA followed by suboptimal concentrations of IFNγ induced a faster, higher, and more stable expression of IRF-1 than IFNγ alone. Actinomycin D completely blocked the induction of IRF-1 by the combination, suggesting regulation at the transcriptional level. Further, we found that activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 was induced more dramatically by atRA and IFNγ than by IFNγ alone. Expression of IFNγ receptor-1 on the cell surface was also increased upon atRA pretreatment. Experiments using receptor-selective retinoids revealed that ligands for retinoic acid receptor-α (RARα), including atRA, 9-cis-retinoic acid, and Am580, sequentially increased the levels of IFNγ receptor-1, activated signal transducer and activator of transcription-1, and IRF-1 and that an RARα antagonist was able to inhibit the effects of atRA and Am580. In addition, atRA pretreatment affected the transcriptional functions of IFNγ-induced IRF-1, increasing its nuclear localization and DNA binding activity as well as the transcript levels of IRF-1 target genes. These results suggest that atRA, an RARα ligand, regulates IFNγ-induced IRF-1 by affecting multiple components of the IFNγ signaling pathway, from the plasma membrane to the nuclear transcription factors.


1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 7091-7097 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Peers ◽  
S Sharma ◽  
T Johnson ◽  
M Kamps ◽  
M Montminy

A number of homeodomain proteins have been shown to regulate cellular development by stimulating the transcription of specific target genes. In contrast to their distinct activities in vivo, however, most homeodomain proteins bind indiscriminately to potential target sites in vitro, suggesting the involvement of cofactors which specify target site selection. One such cofactor, termed extradenticle, has been shown to influence segmental morphogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster by binding cooperatively with certain homeodomain proteins to target regulatory elements. Here we demonstrate that STF-1, an orphan homeodomain protein required for pancreatic development in mammals, binds cooperatively to DNA with Pbx, the mammalian homolog of extradenticle. Cooperative binding with Pbx requires a pentapeptide motif (FPWMK) which is well conserved among a large subset of homeodomain proteins. The FPMWK motif is not sufficient to confer Pbx cooperativity on other homeodomain proteins, however; the N-terminal arm of the STF-1 homeodomain is also essential. As cooperative binding with Pbx occurs on only a subset of potential STF-1 target sites, our results suggest that Pbx may specify target gene selection in the developing pancreas by forming heterodimeric complexes with STF-1.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 7362-7374 ◽  
Author(s):  
J A Diehl ◽  
C J Sherr

Cyclins contain two characteristic cyclin folds, each consisting of five alpha-helical bundles, which are connected to one another by a short linker peptide. The first repeat makes direct contact with cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) subunits in assembled holoenzyme complexes, whereas the second does not contribute directly to the CDK interface. Although threonine 156 in mouse cyclin D1 is predicted to lie at the carboxyl terminus of the linker peptide that separates the two cyclin folds and is buried within the cyclin subunit, mutation of this residue to alanine has profound effects on the behavior of the derived cyclin D1-CDK4 complexes. CDK4 in complexes with mutant cyclin D1 (T156A or T156E but not T156S) is not phosphorylated by recombinant CDK-activating kinase (CAK) in vitro, fails to undergo activating T-loop phosphorylation in vivo, and remains catalytically inactive and unable to phosphorylate the retinoblastoma protein. Moreover, when it is ectopically overexpressed in mammalian cells, cyclin D1 (T156A) assembles with CDK4 in the cytoplasm but is not imported into the cell nucleus. CAK phosphorylation is not required for nuclear transport of cyclin D1-CDK4 complexes, because complexes containing wild-type cyclin D1 and a CDK4 (T172A) mutant lacking the CAK phosphorylation site are efficiently imported. In contrast, enforced overexpression of the CDK inhibitor p21Cip1 together with mutant cyclin D1 (T156A)-CDK4 complexes enhanced their nuclear localization. These results suggest that cyclin D1 (T156A or T156E) forms abortive complexes with CDK4 that prevent recognition by CAK and by other cellular factors that are required for their nuclear localization. These properties enable ectopically overexpressed cyclin D1 (T156A), or a more stable T156A/T286A double mutant that is resistant to ubiquitination, to compete with endogenous cyclin D1 in mammalian cells, thereby mobilizing CDK4 into cytoplasmic, catalytically inactive complexes and dominantly inhibiting the ability of transfected NIH 3T3 fibroblasts to enter S phase.


1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 3786-3795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q Lu ◽  
P S Knoepfler ◽  
J Scheele ◽  
D D Wright ◽  
M P Kamps

E2A-PBX1 is the oncogene produced at the t(1;19) chromosomal breakpoint of pediatric pre-B-cell leukemia. Expression of E2A-Pbx1 induces fibroblast transformation and myeloid and T-cell leukemia in mice and arrests differentiation of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor-dependent myeloblasts in cultured marrow. Recently, the Drosophila melanogaster protein Exd, which is highly related to Pbx1, was shown to bind DNA cooperatively with the Drosophila homeodomain proteins Ubx and Abd-A. Here, we demonstrate that the normal Pbx1 homeodomain protein, as well as its oncogenic derivative, E2A-Pbx1, binds the DNA sequence ATCAATCAA cooperatively with the murine Hox-A5, Hox-B7, Hox-B8, and Hox-C8 homeodomain proteins, which are themselves known oncoproteins, as well as with the Hox-D4 homeodomain protein. Cooperative binding to ATCAATCAA required the homeodomain-dependent DNA-binding activities of both Pbx1 and the Hox partner. In cotransfection assays, Hox-B8 suppressed transactivation by E2A-Pbx1. These results suggest that (i) Pbx1 may participate in the normal regulation of Hox target gene transcription in vivo and therein contribute to aspects of anterior-posterior patterning and structural development in vertebrates, (ii) that E2A-Pbx1 could abrogate normal differentiation by altering the transcriptional regulation of Hox target genes in conjunction with Hox proteins, and (iii) that the oncogenic mechanism of certain Hox proteins may require their physical interaction with Pbx1 as a cooperating, DNA-binding partner.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miaomiao Li ◽  
Chih Yean Ong ◽  
Christophe J Langouet-Astrie ◽  
Lisi TAN ◽  
Ashwni Verma ◽  
...  

RAGE, a druggable inflammatory receptor, is known to function as an oligomer but the exact oligomerization mechanism remains poorly understood. Previously we have shown that heparan sulfate (HS) plays an active role in RAGE oligomerization. To understand the physiological significance of HS-induced RAGE oligomerization in vivo, we generated RAGE knock-in mice (RageAHA/AHA) by introducing point mutations to specifically disrupt HS-RAGE interaction. The RAGE mutant demonstrated normal ligand-binding but impaired capacity of HS-binding and oligomerization. Remarkably, RageAHA/AHA mice phenocopied Rage-/- mice in two different pathophysiological processes, namely bone remodeling and neutrophil-mediated liver injury, which demonstrates that HS-induced RAGE oligomerization is essential for RAGE signaling. Our findings suggest that it should be possible to block RAGE signaling by inhibiting HS-RAGE interaction. To test this, we generated a monoclonal antibody that targets the HS-binding site of RAGE. This antibody blocks RAGE signaling in vitro and in vivo, recapitulating the phenotype of RageAHA/AHA mice. By inhibiting HS-RAGE interaction genetically and pharmacologically, our work validated an alternative strategy to antagonize RAGE. Finally, we have performed RNA-seq analysis of neutrophils and lungs and found that while Rage-/- mice had a broad alteration of transcriptome in both tissues compared to wild-type mice, the changes of transcriptome in RageAHA/AHA mice were much more restricted. This unexpected finding suggests that by preserving the expression of RAGE protein (in a dominant-negative form), RageAHA/AHA mouse might represent a cleaner genetic model to study physiological roles of RAGE in vivo compared to Rage-/- mice.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 4532-4545
Author(s):  
I Pellerin ◽  
C Schnabel ◽  
K M Catron ◽  
C Abate

The hox genes, members of a family of essential developmental regulators, have the intriguing property that their expression in the developing murine embryo is colinear with their chromosomal organization. Members of the hox gene family share a conserved DNA binding domain, termed the homeodomain, which mediates interactions of Hox proteins with DNA regulatory elements in the transcriptional control regions of target genes. In this study, we characterized the DNA binding properties of five representative members of the Hox family: HoxA5, HoxB4, HoxA7, HoxC8, and HoxB1. To facilitate a comparative analysis of their DNA binding properties, we produced the homeodomain regions of these Hox proteins in Escherichia coli and obtained highly purified polypeptides. We showed that these Hox proteins interact in vitro with a common consensus DNA site that contains the motif (C/G)TAATTG. We further showed that the Hox proteins recognize the consensus DNA site in vivo, as determined by their ability to activate transcription through this site in transient transfection assays. Although they interact optimally with the consensus DNA site, the Hox proteins exhibit subtle, but distinct, preferences for DNA sites that contain variations of the nucleotides within the consensus motif. In addition to their modest differences in DNA binding specificities, the Hox proteins also vary in their relative affinities for DNA. Intriguingly, their relative affinities correlate with the positions of their respective genes on the hox cluster. These findings suggest that subtle differences in DNA binding specificity combined with differences in DNA binding affinity constitute features of the "Hox code" that contribute to the selective functions of Hox proteins during murine embryogenesis.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Lunghi ◽  
Antonio Costanzo ◽  
Massimo Levrero ◽  
Antonio Bonati

Abstract Arsenic trioxide (ATO) induces differentiation and apoptosis of malignant cells in vitro and in vivo and has been used in the treatment of a variety of hematologic malignancies. We found that in NB4 acute promyelocytic and in K562 erythroleukemia cell lines treatment with the MEK1 inhibitors PD98059 and PD184352 greatly enhances apoptotic cell death induced by ATO alone. Combined treatment results in the induction of the p53AIP1 (p53-regulated apoptosis-inducing protein 1) gene in both cell lines. Because NB4 and K562 cell lines carry an inactive p53, we investigated the possible role of p73, a p53 paralogue that has been shown to regulate several p53 target genes including p21, Bax, and p53AIP1. We found that MEK1 inhibitors reduce the levels of dominant-negative (ΔN) p73 proteins and promote the accumulation of endogenous p73α through its transcriptional activation and its tyrosine phosphorylation, resulting in p21 up-regulation and significant inhibition of cell growth. ATO reduces ΔNp73 levels and promotes a p300-mediated acetylation of endogenous p73, thus favoring cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Finally, the combined treatment with MEK1 inhibitors and ATO enhances the affinity of phosphoacetylated p73 for the p53AIP1 promoter in vivo, as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, leading to p53AIP1 up-regulation and increased apoptosis. (Blood. 2004; 104:519-525)


2011 ◽  
Vol 300 (6) ◽  
pp. C1490-C1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Senf ◽  
Pooja B. Sandesara ◽  
Sarah A. Reed ◽  
Andrew R. Judge

The Forkhead Box O (FOXO) transcription factors regulate diverse cellular processes, and in skeletal muscle are both necessary and sufficient for muscle atrophy. Although the regulation of FOXO by Akt is well evidenced in skeletal muscle, the current study demonstrates that FOXO is also regulated in muscle via the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activities of p300/CREB-binding protein (CBP). Transfection of rat soleus muscle with a dominant-negative p300, which lacks HAT activity and inhibits endogenous p300 HAT activity, increased FOXO reporter activity and induced transcription from the promoter of a bona fide FOXO target gene, atrogin-1. Conversely, increased HAT activity via transfection of either wild-type (WT) p300 or WT CBP repressed FOXO activation in vivo in response to muscle disuse, and in C2C12 cells in response to dexamethasone and acute starvation. Importantly, manipulation of HAT activity differentially regulated the expression of various FOXO target genes. Cotransfection of FOXO1, FOXO3a, or FOXO4 with the p300 constructs further identified p300 HAT activity to also differentially regulate the activity of the FOXO homologues. Markedly, decreased HAT activity strongly increased FOXO3a transcriptional activity, while increased HAT activity repressed FOXO3a activity and prevented its nuclear localization in response to nutrient deprivation. In contrast, p300 increased FOXO1 nuclear localization. In summary, this study provides the first evidence to support the acetyltransferase activities of p300/CBP in regulating FOXO signaling in skeletal muscle and suggests that acetylation may be an important mechanism to differentially regulate the FOXO homologues and dictate which FOXO target genes are activated in response to varying atrophic stimuli.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 5129-5139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng-Qian Li ◽  
Archie Coonrod ◽  
Marshall Horwitz

ABSTRACT Satellite myoblasts serve as stem cells in postnatal skeletal muscle, but the genes responsible for choosing between growth versus differentiation are largely undefined. We have used a novel genetic approach to identify genes encoding proteins whose dominant negative inhibition is capable of interrupting the in vitro differentiation of C2C12 murine satellite myoblasts. The screen is based on fusion of a library of cDNA fragments with the lysosomal protease cathepsin B (CB), such that the fusion protein intracellularly diverts interacting factors to the lysosome. Among other gene fragments selected in this screen, including those of known and novel sequence, is the retinoblastoma protein (RB) pocket domain. This unique dominant negative form of RB allows us to genetically determine if MyoD and RB associate in vivo. The dominant negative CB-RB fusion produces a cellular phenotype indistinguishable from recessive loss of function RB mutations. The fact that the dominant negative RB inhibits myogenic differentiation in the presence of nonlimiting concentrations of either RB or MyoD suggests that these two proteins do not directly interact. We further show that the dominant negative RB inhibits E2F1 but cannot inhibit a forced E2F1-RB dimer. Therefore, E2F1 is a potential mediator of the dominant negative inhibition of MyoD by CB-RB during satellite cell differentiation. We propose this approach to be generally suited to the investigation of gene function, even when little is known about the pathway being studied.


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