Nuclear import of serum response factor (SRF) requires a short amino-terminal nuclear localization sequence and is independent of the casein kinase II phosphorylation site

1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (11) ◽  
pp. 3029-3036
Author(s):  
J. Rech ◽  
I. Barlat ◽  
J.L. Veyrune ◽  
A. Vie ◽  
J.M. Blanchard

Serum stimulation of resting cells is mediated at least in part at the transcriptional level by the activation of numerous genes among which c-fos constitutes a model. Serum response factor (SRF) forms a ternary complex at the c-fos serum response element (SRE) with an accessory protein p62TCF/Elk-1. Both proteins are the targets of multiple phosphorylation events and their role is still unknown in the amino terminus of SRF. While the transcriptional activation domain has been mapped between amino acids 339 and 508, the DNA-binding and the dimerization domains have been mapped to between amino acids 133–235 and 168–235, respectively, no role has been proposed for the amino-terminal portion of the molecule. We demonstrate in the present work that amino acids 95 to 100 contain a stretch of basic amino acids that are sufficient to target a reporter protein to the nucleus. Moreover, this sequence appears to be the only nuclear localization signal operating in SRF. Finally, whereas the global structure around this putative nuclear location signal is reminiscent of what is found in the SV40 T antigen, the casein kinase II phosphorylation site does not determine the rate of cyto-nuclear protein transport of this protein.

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.M. Marais ◽  
J.J. Hsuan ◽  
C. McGuigan ◽  
J. Wynne ◽  
R. Treisman

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (20) ◽  
pp. 6302-6313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Muehlich ◽  
Ruigong Wang ◽  
Seung-Min Lee ◽  
Thera C. Lewis ◽  
Chao Dai ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 (MKL1) is a myocardin-related coactivator of the serum response factor (SRF) transcription factor, which has an integral role in differentiation, migration, and proliferation. Serum induces RhoA-dependent translocation of MKL1 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and also causes a rapid increase in MKL1 phosphorylation. We have mapped a serum-inducible phosphorylation site and found, surprisingly, that its mutation causes constitutive localization to the nucleus, suggesting that phosphorylation of MKL1 inhibits its serum-induced nuclear localization. The key site, serine 454, resembles a mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation site, and its modification was blocked by the MEK1 inhibitor U0126, implying that extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) is the serum-inducible kinase that phosphorylates MKL1. Previous results indicated that G-actin binding to MKL1 promotes its nuclear export, and we found that MKL1 phosphorylation is required for its binding to actin, explaining its effect on localization. We propose a model in which serum induction initially stimulates MKL1 nuclear localization due to a decrease in G-actin levels, but MKL1 is then downregulated by nuclear export due to ERK1/2 phosphorylation.


1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 955-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Manak ◽  
N de Bisschop ◽  
R M Kris ◽  
R Prywes

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3652-3659
Author(s):  
J R Manak ◽  
R Prywes

Casein kinase II (CKII) phosphorylates the mammalian transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) on a serine residue(s) located within a region of the protein spanning amino acids 70 to 92, thereby enhancing its DNA-binding activity in vitro. We report here that serine 83 appears to be the residue phosphorylated by CKII but that three other serines in this region can also be involved in phosphorylation and the enhancement of DNA-binding activity. A mutant that contained glutamate residues in place of these serines had only low-level binding activity; however, when the serines were replaced with glutamates and further mutations were made that increased the negative charge of the region, the resulting mutant showed a constitutively high level of binding equal to that achieved by phosphorylation of wild-type SRF. We have investigated the mechanism by which phosphorylation of SRF increases its DNA-binding activity. We have ruled out the possibilities that phosphorylation affects SRF dimerization or relieves inhibition due to masking of the DNA-binding domain by an amino-terminal region of the protein. Rather, using partial proteolysis to probe SRF's structure, we find that the conformation of SRF's DNA-binding domain is altered by phosphorylation.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3652-3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Manak ◽  
R Prywes

Casein kinase II (CKII) phosphorylates the mammalian transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) on a serine residue(s) located within a region of the protein spanning amino acids 70 to 92, thereby enhancing its DNA-binding activity in vitro. We report here that serine 83 appears to be the residue phosphorylated by CKII but that three other serines in this region can also be involved in phosphorylation and the enhancement of DNA-binding activity. A mutant that contained glutamate residues in place of these serines had only low-level binding activity; however, when the serines were replaced with glutamates and further mutations were made that increased the negative charge of the region, the resulting mutant showed a constitutively high level of binding equal to that achieved by phosphorylation of wild-type SRF. We have investigated the mechanism by which phosphorylation of SRF increases its DNA-binding activity. We have ruled out the possibilities that phosphorylation affects SRF dimerization or relieves inhibition due to masking of the DNA-binding domain by an amino-terminal region of the protein. Rather, using partial proteolysis to probe SRF's structure, we find that the conformation of SRF's DNA-binding domain is altered by phosphorylation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Wei Liu ◽  
Andrew J. Halayko ◽  
Darren J. Fernandes ◽  
Gregory S. Harmon ◽  
Joel A. McCauley ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. e2008861118
Author(s):  
Yuxuan Guo ◽  
Yangpo Cao ◽  
Blake D. Jardin ◽  
Isha Sethi ◽  
Qing Ma ◽  
...  

The paucity of knowledge about cardiomyocyte maturation is a major bottleneck in cardiac regenerative medicine. In development, cardiomyocyte maturation is characterized by orchestrated structural, transcriptional, and functional specializations that occur mainly at the perinatal stage. Sarcomeres are the key cytoskeletal structures that regulate the ultrastructural maturation of other organelles, but whether sarcomeres modulate the signal transduction pathways that are essential for cardiomyocyte maturation remains unclear. To address this question, here we generated mice with cardiomyocyte-specific, mosaic, and hypomorphic mutations of α-actinin-2 (Actn2) to study the cell-autonomous roles of sarcomeres in postnatal cardiomyocyte maturation. Actn2 mutation resulted in defective structural maturation of transverse-tubules and mitochondria. In addition, Actn2 mutation triggered transcriptional dysregulation, including abnormal expression of key sarcomeric and mitochondrial genes, and profound impairment of the normal progression of maturational gene expression. Mechanistically, the transcriptional changes in Actn2 mutant cardiomyocytes strongly correlated with those in cardiomyocytes deleted of serum response factor (SRF), a critical transcription factor that regulates cardiomyocyte maturation. Actn2 mutation increased the monomeric form of cardiac α-actin, which interacted with the SRF cofactor MRTFA and perturbed its nuclear localization. Overexpression of a dominant-negative MRTFA mutant was sufficient to recapitulate the morphological and transcriptional defects in Actn2 and Srf mutant cardiomyocytes. Together, these data indicate that Actn2-based sarcomere organization regulates structural and transcriptional maturation of cardiomyocytes through MRTF-SRF signaling.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4640-4647
Author(s):  
F E Johansen ◽  
R Prywes

The binding of serum response factor (SRF) to the c-fos serum response element has been shown to be essential for serum and growth factor activation of c-Fos. Since SRF is ubiquitously expressed, it has been difficult to measure the activity of SRF introduced into cells. To assay for functions of SRF in cells, we have changed its DNA binding specificity by fusing it to the DNA binding domain of GAL4. Transfection of GAL4-SRF constructs into cells has allowed us to identify SRF's transcriptional activation domain as well as domains which inhibit this activity. First, we found that the transcriptional activation domain maps to between amino acids 339 and 508 in HeLa cells and to between amino acids 414 and 508 in NIH 3T3 cells. Second, we show that in the context of GAL4-SRF constructs, there are two separate domains of SRF that can inhibit its activation domain. Although these domains overlap the DNA binding and dimerization domains of SRF, these functions were not required for inhibition. Finally, we show that one of the inhibitory domains is modular in that it can also inhibit activation when it is moved amino terminal to GAL4's DNA binding domain in an SRF-GAL4-SRF construct. The implications of these inhibitory domains for SRF regulation are discussed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 1011-1018
Author(s):  
W. Ding ◽  
S. Gao ◽  
R.E. Scott

The differentiation of cultured 3T3T mesenchymal stem cells into adipocytes represses growth factor responsiveness by limiting the nuclear localization of the serum response factor (SRF) that binds to and activates the promoters of growth control genes that contain the serum response elements (SRE), such as junB and c-fos. The regulation of SRF nuclear localization by adipocyte differentiation is specific, because we show that adipocyte differentiation does not repress the nuclear localization of six other transacting factors. To determine if repression of growth factor responsiveness that occurs during senescence also represses the nuclear localization of SRF, we studied normal human WI-38 fibroblasts at low versus high population doublings. The results show that SRF localizes to the nucleus of proliferative cells whereas in senescent cells SRF can not be detected in the nucleus. This result is apparent in both immunofluorescence assays and in western blot analysis. We next evaluated the cellular distribution of SRF in selected human tissues to determine whether the loss of proliferative potential in vivo could have a different effect on SRF nuclear localization. We found that in cells of the small bowel mucosa, differentiation modulates SRF nuclear localization in an opposite manner. Minimal SRF expression and nuclear localization is evident in undifferentiated cells at the base of crypts whereas increased SRF expression and nuclear localization is evident in differentiated cells at the surface tip of the villus. These results together establish that regulation of SRF expression and nuclear localization is important in senescence and differentiation in a lineage specific manner.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4640-4647 ◽  
Author(s):  
F E Johansen ◽  
R Prywes

The binding of serum response factor (SRF) to the c-fos serum response element has been shown to be essential for serum and growth factor activation of c-Fos. Since SRF is ubiquitously expressed, it has been difficult to measure the activity of SRF introduced into cells. To assay for functions of SRF in cells, we have changed its DNA binding specificity by fusing it to the DNA binding domain of GAL4. Transfection of GAL4-SRF constructs into cells has allowed us to identify SRF's transcriptional activation domain as well as domains which inhibit this activity. First, we found that the transcriptional activation domain maps to between amino acids 339 and 508 in HeLa cells and to between amino acids 414 and 508 in NIH 3T3 cells. Second, we show that in the context of GAL4-SRF constructs, there are two separate domains of SRF that can inhibit its activation domain. Although these domains overlap the DNA binding and dimerization domains of SRF, these functions were not required for inhibition. Finally, we show that one of the inhibitory domains is modular in that it can also inhibit activation when it is moved amino terminal to GAL4's DNA binding domain in an SRF-GAL4-SRF construct. The implications of these inhibitory domains for SRF regulation are discussed.


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