scholarly journals Hydrophobin CmHYD1 Is Involved in Conidiation, Infection and Primordium Formation, and Regulated by GATA Transcription Factor CmAreA in Edible Fungus, Cordyceps militaris

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 674
Author(s):  
Xiao Li ◽  
Fen Wang ◽  
Mengqian Liu ◽  
Caihong Dong

Hydrophobins are a family of small proteins exclusively secreted by fungi, and play a variety of roles in the life cycle. Cmhyd1, one of the hydrophobin class II members in Cordyceps militaris, has been shown to have a high transcript level during fruiting body development. Here, deletion of Cmhyd1 results in reduction in aerial mycelia, conidiation, hydrophobicity and infection ability, and complete inhibition of pigmentation and primordium differentiation. Cmhyd1 plays roles in conidiation and cuticle-bypassing infection by regulating the transcripts of frequency clock protein, Cmfrq, and velvet protein, Cmvosa, as well as primordium formation via the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. Cmhyd1 also participates in stress response, including tolerance of mycelia to osmotic and oxidative stresses, and conidia to high or low temperatures. CmAreA, a transcription factor of nitrogen regulatory, is recruited to the promoter of Cmhyd1 and activates the transcription of Cmhyd1 with coactivator CmOTam using electrophoretic mobility shift assays and transient luciferase expression in tobacco. Furthermore, CmHYD1 is proved to regulate the transcription of Cmarea at different developmental stages via a positive feedback loop. These results reveal the diverse roles and regulation of Cmhyd1 in C. militaris, and provide insights into the developmental regulatory mechanism of mushrooms.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (19) ◽  
pp. 9302-9311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwao Kukimoto ◽  
Tadahito Kanda

ABSTRACT Transcription from human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) P670, a promoter in the E7 open reading frame, is repressed in undifferentiated keratinocytes but becomes activated upon differentiation. We showed that the transient luciferase expression driven by P670 was markedly enhanced in HeLa cells cotransfected with an expression plasmid for human Skn-1a (hSkn-1a), a transcription factor specific to differentiating keratinocytes. The hSkn-1a POU domain alone, which mediates sequence-specific DNA binding, was sufficient to activate the expression of luciferase. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed the presence of two binding sites, sites 1 and 2, upstream of P670, which were shared by hSkn-1a and YY1. Site 1 bound more strongly to hSkn-1a than site 2 did. YY1 complexing with a short DNA fragment having site 1 was displaced by hSkn-1a, indicating that hSkn-1a's affinity with site 1 was stronger than YY1's. Disrupting the binding sites by nucleotide substitutions raised the basal expression level of luciferase and decreased the enhancing effect of hSkn-1a. In HeLa cells transfected with circular HPV16 DNA along with the expression plasmid for hSkn-1a, the transcript from P670 was detectable, which indicates that the results obtained with the reporter plasmids are likely to have mimicked the regulation of P670 in authentic HPV16 DNA. The data strongly suggest that the transcription from P670 is repressed primarily by YY1 binding to the two sites, and the displacement of YY1 by hSkn-1a releases P670 from the repression.


2001 ◽  
Vol 359 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazumi KITTA ◽  
Sophie A. CLÉMENT ◽  
Jane REMEIKA ◽  
Jeffrey B. BLUMBERG ◽  
Yuichiro J. SUZUKI

The transcription factor GATA-4 plays a central role in the regulation of cardiac-muscle gene transcription. The present study demonstrates that endothelin-1 (ET-1) induces GATA-4 activation and phosphorylation. The treatment of HL-1 adult mouse atrial-muscle cells with ET-1 (30nM) caused a rapid increase in the DNA binding activity of GATA-4 within 3min. The activation was associated with an upward mobility shift of the GATA-4 band on native PAGE in an electrophoretic- mobility-shift assay. The upward shift of the GATA-4 band also occurred on SDS/PAGE as monitored by immunoblotting. The in vitro treatment of nuclear extracts with λ-protein phosphatase abolished the upward shift, indicating that GATA-4 was phosphorylated. ET-1 activated the p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the MAPK kinase (MEK) within 3min, and PD98059 (a specific inhibitor of MEK) abolished the ET-1-induced GATA-4 phosphorylation. PMA also caused the rapid activation of MAPK and the phosphorylation of GATA-4. In contrast, the activation of MAPK by phenylephrine or H2O2 was weak and did not lead to GATA-4 phosphorylation. Thus ET-1 induces a GATA-4 phosphorylation by activating a MEK–MAPK pathway.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1343
Author(s):  
Balaji Venkataraman ◽  
Saeeda Almarzooqi ◽  
Vishnu Raj ◽  
Abdullah T. Alhassani ◽  
Ahmad S. Alhassani ◽  
...  

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory disorders with increasing incidence and prevalence worldwide. Here, we investigated thymoquinone (TQ), a naturally occurring phytochemical present in Nigella sativa, for anti-inflammatory effects in colonic inflammation. To address this, we used in vivo (mice) and in vitro (HT-29 cells) models in this investigation. Our results showed that TQ treatment significantly reduced the disease activity index (DAI), myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and protected colon microscopic architecture. In addition, TQ also reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators at both the mRNA and protein levels. Further, TQ decreased phosphorylation of the activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) proteins and enhanced colon epithelial PPAR-γ transcription factor expression. TQ significantly decreased proinflammatory chemokines (CXCL-1 and IL-8), and mediator (COX-2) mRNA expression in HT-29 cells treated with TNF-α. TQ also increased HT-29 PPAR-γ mRNA, PPAR-γ protein expression, and PPAR-γ promoter activity. These results indicate that TQ inhibits MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways and transcriptionally regulates PPAR-γ expression to induce potent anti-inflammatory activity in vivo and in vitro models of colon inflammation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolong Hao ◽  
Chenhong Xie ◽  
Qingyan Ruan ◽  
Xichen Zhang ◽  
Chao Wu ◽  
...  

AbstractThe limited bioavailability of plant-derived natural products with anticancer activity poses major challenges to the pharmaceutical industry. An example of this is camptothecin, a monoterpene indole alkaloid with potent anticancer activity that is extracted at very low concentrations from woody plants. Recently, camptothecin biosynthesis has been shown to become biotechnologically amenable in hairy-root systems of the natural producer Ophiorrhiza pumila. Here, time-course expression and metabolite analyses were performed to identify novel transcriptional regulators of camptothecin biosynthesis in O. pumila. It is shown here that camptothecin production increased over cultivation time and that the expression pattern of the WRKY transcription factor encoding gene OpWRKY2 is closely correlated with camptothecin accumulation. Overexpression of OpWRKY2 led to a more than three-fold increase in camptothecin levels. Accordingly, silencing of OpWRKY2 correlated with decreased camptothecin levels in the plant. Further detailed molecular characterization by electrophoretic mobility shift, yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assays showed that OpWRKY2 directly binds and activates the central camptothecin pathway gene OpTDC. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that OpWRKY2 acts as a direct positive regulator of camptothecin biosynthesis. As such, a feasible strategy for the over-accumulation of camptothecin in a biotechnologically amenable system is presented.


2005 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Kiam Yap ◽  
Yutaka Kodama ◽  
Frank Waller ◽  
Kwi Mi Chung ◽  
Hirokazu Ueda ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1651-1658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limin Liu ◽  
Douglas Leaman ◽  
Michel Villalta ◽  
R. Michael Roberts

Abstract CG is required for maintenance of the corpus luteum during pregnancy in higher primates. As CG is a heterodimeric molecule, some form of coordinated control must be maintained over the transcription of its two subunit genes. We recently found that expression of human CG β-subunit (hCGβ) in JAr human choriocarcinoma cells was almost completely silenced by the embryonic transcription factor Oct-3/4, which bound to a unique ACAATAATCA octameric sequence in the hCGβ gene promoter. Here we report that Oct-3/4 is also a potent inhibitor of hCG α-subunit (hCGα) expression in JAr cells. Oct-3/4 reduced human GH reporter expression from the −170 hCGα promoter in either the presence or absence of cAMP by about 70% in transient cotransfection assays, but had no effect on expression from either the −148 hCGα or the −99 hCGα promoter. Unexpectedly, no Oct-3/4-binding site was identified within the −170 to −148 region of the hCGα promoter, although one was found around position −115 by both methylation interference footprinting and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Site-directed mutagenesis of this binding site destroyed the affinity of the promoter for Oct-3/4, but did not affect repression of the promoter. Therefore, inhibition of hCGα gene transcription by Oct-3/4 appears not to involve direct binding of this factor to the site responsible for silencing. When stably transfected into JAr cells, Oct-3/4 reduced the amounts of both endogenous hCGα mRNA and protein by 70–80%. Oct-3/4 is therefore capable of silencing both hCGα and hCGβ gene expression. We suggest that as the trophoblast begins to form, reduction of Oct-3/4 expression permits the coordinated onset of transcription from the hCGα and hCGβ genes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 6418-6428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Lane ◽  
Song Zhou ◽  
Ting Pan ◽  
Qian Dai ◽  
Haoping Liu

ABSTRACT Candida albicans undergoes a morphogenetic switch from budding yeast to hyphal growth form in response to a variety of stimuli and growth conditions. Multiple signaling pathways, including a Cph1-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and an Efg1-mediated cyclic AMP/protein kinase A pathway, regulate the transition. Here we report the identification of a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor of the Myc subfamily (Cph2) by its ability to promote pseudohyphal growth inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Like sterol response element binding protein 1, Cph2 has a Tyr instead of a conserved Arg in the basic DNA binding region. Cph2 regulates hyphal development in C. albicans, ascph2/cph2 mutant strains show medium-specific impairment in hyphal development and in the induction of hypha-specific genes. However, many hypha-specific genes do not have potential Cph2 binding sites in their upstream regions. Interestingly, upstream sequences of all known hypha-specific genes are found to contain potential binding sites for Tec1, a regulator of hyphal development. Northern analysis shows that TEC1 transcription is highest in the medium in which cph2/cph2 displays a defect in hyphal development, and Cph2 is necessary for this transcriptional induction of TEC1. In vitro gel mobility shift experiments show that Cph2 directly binds to the two sterol regulatory element 1-like elements upstream of TEC1. Furthermore, the ectopic expression of TEC1 suppresses the defect ofcph2/cph2 in hyphal development. Therefore, the function of Cph2 in hyphal transcription is mediated, in part, through Tec1. We further show that this function of Cph2 is independent of the Cph1- and Efg1-mediated pathways.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Seoane ◽  
Roman Perez-Fernandez

Abstract Pituitary transcription factor-1 (Pit-1) plays a key role in cell differentiation during organogenesis of the anterior pituitary, and as a transcriptional activator for the pituitary GH and prolactin genes. However, Pit-1 is also expressed in nonpituitary cell types and tissues. In breast tumors, Pit-1 mRNA and protein levels are increased with respect to normal breast, and in MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells, Pit-1 increases GH secretion and cell proliferation. We report here that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3] administration to MCF-7 cells induces a significant decrease in Pit-1 mRNA and protein levels. By deletion analyses, we mapped a region (located between −147 and −171 bp from the transcription start site of the Pit-1 gene) that is sufficient for the repressive response to 1,25-(OH)2D3. Gel mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed the direct interaction between the vitamin D receptor (VDR) as homodimer (without the retinoid X receptor), and the Pit-1 promoter, supporting the view that Pit-1 is a direct transcriptional target of VDR. Our data also indicate that recruitment of histone deacetylase 1 is involved in this repressive effect. This ligand-dependent Pit-1 gene inhibition by VDR in the absence of the retinoid X receptor seems to indicate a new mechanism of transcriptional repression by 1,25-(OH)2D3.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 7589-7599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Ubeda ◽  
Mario Vallejo ◽  
Joel F. Habener

ABSTRACT The transcription factor CHOP (C/EBP homologous protein 10) is a bZIP protein induced by a variety of stimuli that evoke cellular stress responses and has been shown to arrest cell growth and to promote programmed cell death. CHOP cannot form homodimers but forms stable heterodimers with the C/EBP family of activating transcription factors. Although initially characterized as a dominant negative inhibitor of C/EBPs in the activation of gene transcription, CHOP-C/EBP can activate certain target genes. Here we show that CHOP interacts with members of the immediate-early response, growth-promoting AP-1 transcription factor family, JunD, c-Jun, and c-Fos, to activate promoter elements in the somatostatin, JunD, and collagenase genes. The leucine zipper dimerization domain is required for interactions with AP-1 proteins and transactivation of transcription. Analyses by electrophoretic mobility shift assays and by an in vivo mammalian two-hybrid system for protein-protein interactions indicate that CHOP interacts with AP-1 proteins inside cells and suggest that it is recruited to the AP-1 complex by a tethering mechanism rather than by direct binding of DNA. Thus, CHOP not only is a negative or a positive regulator of C/EBP target genes but also, when tethered to AP-1 factors, can activate AP-1 target genes. These findings establish the existence of a new mechanism by which CHOP regulates gene expression when cells are exposed to cellular stress.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 1544-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jade Mei-Yeh Lu ◽  
Robert J. Deschenes ◽  
Jan S. Fassler

ABSTRACT Yeast Sln1p is an osmotic stress sensor with histidine kinase activity. Modulation of Sln1 kinase activity in response to changes in the osmotic environment regulates the activity of the osmotic response mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and the activity of the Skn7p transcription factor, both important for adaptation to changing osmotic stress conditions. Many aspects of Sln1 function, such as how kinase activity is regulated to allow a rapid response to the continually changing osmotic environment, are not understood. To gain insight into Sln1p function, we conducted a two-hybrid screen to identify interactors. Mog1p, a protein that interacts with the yeast Ran1 homolog, Gsp1p, was identified in this screen. The interaction with Mog1p was characterized in vitro, and its importance was assessed in vivo. mog1 mutants exhibit defects in SLN1-SKN7 signal transduction and mislocalization of the Skn7p transcription factor. The requirement for Mog1p in normal localization of Skn7p to the nucleus does not fully account for the mog1-related defects in SLN1-SKN7 signal transduction, raising the possibility that Mog1p may play a role in Skn7 binding and activation of osmotic response genes.


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