Browsing by Subject "Gene repression"

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Open Access
Brachyury-related transcription factor Tbx2 and repression of the melanocyte-specific TRP-1 promoter
(1998) Carreira, S.; Dexter, T. J.; Yavuzer, U.; Easty, D. J.; Goding, C. R.
Previous work has demonstrated that two key melanocyte-specific elements termed the MSEu and MSEi play critical roles in the expression of the melanocyte-specific tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP-1) promoter. Both the MSEu and MSEi, located at position -237 and at the initiator, respectively, bind a melanocyte-specific factor termed MSF but are also recognized by a previously uncharacterized repressor, since mutations affecting either of these elements result in strong up-regulation of TRP-1 promoter activity in melanoma cells. Here we demonstrate that repression mediated by the MSEu and MSEi also operates in melanocytes. We also report that both the MSEu and MSEi are recognized by the brachyury-related transcription factor Tbx2, a member of the recently described T-box family, and that Tbx2 is expressed in melanocyte and melanoblast cell lines but not in melanoblast precursor cells. Although Tbx2 and MSF each recognize the TRP-1 MSEu and MSEi motifs, it is binding by Tbx-2, not binding by MSF, that correlates with repression. Several lines of evidence tend to point to the brachyury-related transcription factor Tbx2 as being the repressor of TRP-1 expression: both the MSEu and MSEi bind Tbx2, and mutations in either element that result in derepression of the TRP-1 promoter diminish binding by Tbx2; the TRP-1 promoter, but not the tyrosinase, microphthalmia, or glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) promoter, is repressed by Tbx2 in cotransfection assays; a high-affinity consensus brachyury/Tbx2-binding site is able to constitutively repress expression of the heterologous IE110 promoter; and a low-affinity brachyury/Tbx2 binding site is able to mediate Tbx2-dependent repression of the G3PDH promoter. Although we cannot rule out the presence of an additional, as yet unidentified factor playing a role in the negative regulation of TRP-1 in vivo, the evidence presented here suggests that Tbx2 most likely is the previously unidentified repressor of TRP-1 expression and as such is likely to represent the first example of transcriptional repression by a T-box family member.
Open Access
Discovering modulators of gene expression
(Oxford University Press, 2010-09-01) Babur, Özgün; Demir, Emek; Gönen, M.; Sander, C.; Doğrusöz, Uğur
Proteins that modulate the activity of transcription factors, often called modulators, play a critical role in creating tissue- and context-specific gene expression responses to the signals cells receive. GEM (Gene Expression Modulation) is a probabilistic framework that predicts modulators, their affected targets and mode of action by combining gene expression profiles, protein-protein interactions and transcription factor-target relationships. Using GEM, we correctly predicted a significant number of androgen receptor modulators and observed that most modulators can both act as co-activators and co-repressors for different target genes. © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University Press.
Open Access
Jnk1 deficiency in hematopoietic cells suppresses macrophage apoptosis and increases atherosclerosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor null mice
(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2016) Babaev, V. R.; Yeung, M.; Erbay, E.; Ding, L.; Zhang, Y.; May, J. M.; Fazio, S.; Hotamisligil, G. S.; Linton, M. F.
Objective - The c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinases (JNK) are regulated by a wide variety of cellular stresses and have been implicated in apoptotic signaling. Macrophages express 2 JNK isoforms, JNK1 and JNK2, which may have different effects on cell survival and atherosclerosis. Approach and Results - To dissect the effect of macrophage JNK1 and JNK2 on early atherosclerosis, Ldlr-/- mice were reconstituted with wild-type, Jnk1-/-, and Jnk2-/- hematopoietic cells and fed a high cholesterol diet. Jnk1-/- →Ldlr-/- mice have larger atherosclerotic lesions with more macrophages and fewer apoptotic cells than mice transplanted with wild-type or Jnk2-/- cells. Moreover, genetic ablation of JNK to a single allele (Jnk1+/- /Jnk2-/- or Jnk1-/- /Jnk2+/-) in marrow of Ldlr-/- recipients further increased atherosclerosis compared with Jnk1-/- →Ldlr-/- and wild-type→Ldlr-/- mice. In mouse macrophages, anisomycin-mediated JNK signaling antagonized Akt activity, and loss of Jnk1 gene obliterated this effect. Similarly, pharmacological inhibition of JNK1, but not JNK2, markedly reduced the antagonizing effect of JNK on Akt activity. Prolonged JNK signaling in the setting of endoplasmic reticulum stress gradually extinguished Akt and Bad activity in wild-type cells with markedly less effects in Jnk1-/- macrophages, which were also more resistant to apoptosis. Consequently, anisomycin increased and JNK1 inhibitors suppressed endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis in macrophages. We also found that genetic and pharmacological inhibition of phosphatase and tensin homolog abolished the JNK-mediated effects on Akt activity, indicating that phosphatase and tensin homolog mediates crosstalk between these pathways. Conclusions - Loss of Jnk1, but not Jnk2, in macrophages protects them from apoptosis, increasing cell survival, and this accelerates early atherosclerosis.