Regulation of XFGF8 gene expression through SRY (sex-determining region Y)-box 2 in developing Xenopus embryos

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 769
Author(s):  
Yong Hwan Kim ◽  
Jee Yoon Shin ◽  
Wonho Na ◽  
Jungho Kim ◽  
Bong-Gun Ju ◽  
...  

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) function as mitogens and morphogens during vertebrate development. In the present study, to characterise the regulatory mechanism of FGF8 gene expression in developing Xenopus embryos the upstream region of the Xenopus FGF8 (XFGF8) gene was isolated. The upstream region of the XFGF8 gene contains two putative binding sites for the SRY (sex-determining region Y)-box 2 (SOX2) transcription factor. A reporter assay with serially deleted constructs revealed that the putative SOX2-binding motif may be a critical cis-element for XFGF8 gene activation in developing Xenopus embryos. Furthermore, Xenopus SOX2 (XSOX2) physically interacted with the SOX2-binding motif within the upstream region of the XFGF8 gene in vitro and in vivo. Depletion of endogenous XSOX2 resulted in loss of XFGF8 gene expression in midbrain–hindbrain junction, auditory placode, lens placode and forebrain in developing Xenopus embryos. Collectively, our results suggest that XSOX2 directly upregulates XFGF8 gene expression in the early embryonic development of Xenopus.

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1647-1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eui Kyun Park ◽  
Neil Warner ◽  
Yong-Sik Bong ◽  
David Stapleton ◽  
Ryu Maeda ◽  
...  

The Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases regulates numerous biological processes. To examine the biochemical and developmental contributions of specific structural motifs within Eph receptors, wild-type or mutant forms of the EphA4 receptor were ectopically expressed in developing Xenopus embryos. Wild-type EphA4 and a mutant lacking both the SAM domain and PDZ binding motif were constitutively tyrosine phosphorylated in vivo and catalytically active in vitro. EphA4 induced loss of cell adhesion, ventro-lateral protrusions, and severely expanded posterior structures in Xenopus embryos. Moreover, mutation of a conserved SAM domain tyrosine to phenylalanine (Y928F) enhanced the ability of EphA4 to induce these phenotypes, suggesting that the SAM domain may negatively regulate some aspects of EphA4 activity in Xenopus. Analysis of double mutants revealed that the Y928F EphA4 phenotypes were dependent on kinase activity; juxtamembrane sites of tyrosine phosphorylation and SH2 domain-binding were required for cell dissociation, but not for posterior protrusions. The induction of protrusions and expansion of posterior structures is similar to phenotypic effects observed in Xenopus embryos expressing activated FGFR1. Furthermore, the budding ectopic protrusions induced by EphA4 express FGF-8, FGFR1, and FGFR4a. In addition, antisense morpholino oligonucleotide-mediated loss of FGF-8 expression in vivo substantially reduced the phenotypic effects in EphA4Y928F expressing embryos, suggesting a connection between Eph and FGF signaling.


Blood ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Matikainen ◽  
T Ronni ◽  
M Hurme ◽  
R Pine ◽  
I Julkunen

All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is the drug of choice in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). ATRA induces both in vitro and in vivo differentiation of APL cells into mature granulocytes. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in ATRA-dependent growth inhibition and cellular differentiation are not presently understood. The NB4 cell line, which is derived from the bone marrow of a patient with APL during relapse, can be used as a model system to study the growth and differentiation of APL cells. Because interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRF-1 and IRF-2) and other IFN-inducible gene products regulate cell growth, we analyzed the effects of ATRA on the expression of these genes. We show that ATRA directly activates IRF-1 gene expression, followed by activation of IRF-2 and 2′–5′ oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) gene expression with slower kinetics. In addition to NB4 cells, ATRA also activated IRF-1 gene expression in HL-60, U937, and THP-1 cells, which all respond to ATRA by growth inhibition. A more than additive increase in IRF-1 gene expression was seen with ATRA and IFN-gamma in NB4 cells. ATRA did not activate nuclear factor kappa B or signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) activation pathways, suggesting that an alternate mechanism is involved in IRF-1 gene activation. The ATRA-induced expression of IRF-1, an activator of transcription and repressor of transformation, may be one of the molecular mechanisms of ATRA-induced growth inhibition, and the basis for the synergistic actions of ATRA and IFNs in myeloid leukemia cells.


Blood ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Matikainen ◽  
T Ronni ◽  
M Hurme ◽  
R Pine ◽  
I Julkunen

Abstract All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is the drug of choice in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). ATRA induces both in vitro and in vivo differentiation of APL cells into mature granulocytes. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in ATRA-dependent growth inhibition and cellular differentiation are not presently understood. The NB4 cell line, which is derived from the bone marrow of a patient with APL during relapse, can be used as a model system to study the growth and differentiation of APL cells. Because interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRF-1 and IRF-2) and other IFN-inducible gene products regulate cell growth, we analyzed the effects of ATRA on the expression of these genes. We show that ATRA directly activates IRF-1 gene expression, followed by activation of IRF-2 and 2′–5′ oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) gene expression with slower kinetics. In addition to NB4 cells, ATRA also activated IRF-1 gene expression in HL-60, U937, and THP-1 cells, which all respond to ATRA by growth inhibition. A more than additive increase in IRF-1 gene expression was seen with ATRA and IFN-gamma in NB4 cells. ATRA did not activate nuclear factor kappa B or signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) activation pathways, suggesting that an alternate mechanism is involved in IRF-1 gene activation. The ATRA-induced expression of IRF-1, an activator of transcription and repressor of transformation, may be one of the molecular mechanisms of ATRA-induced growth inhibition, and the basis for the synergistic actions of ATRA and IFNs in myeloid leukemia cells.


2007 ◽  
Vol 403 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit R. Gauthier ◽  
Yvan Gosmain ◽  
Aline Mamin ◽  
Jacques Philippe

The transcription factor Nkx6.1 is required for the establishment of functional insulin-producing β-cells in the endocrine pancreas. Overexpression of Nkx6.1 has been shown to inhibit glucagon gene expression while favouring insulin gene activation. Down-regulation resulted in the opposite effect, suggesting that absence of Nkx6.1 favours glucagon gene expression. To understand the mechanism by which Nkx6.1 suppresses glucagon gene expression, we studied its effect on the glucagon gene promoter activity in non-islet cells using transient transfections and gel-shift analyses. In glucagonoma cells transfected with an Nkx6.1-encoding vector, the glucagon promoter activity was reduced by 65%. In BHK21 cells, Nkx6.1 inhibited by 93% Pax6-mediated activation of the glucagon promoter, whereas Cdx2/3 and Maf stimulations were unaltered. Although Nkx6.1 could interact with both the G1 and G3 element, only the former displayed specificity for Nkx6.1. Mutagenesis of the three potential AT-rich motifs within the G1 revealed that only the Pax6-binding site preferentially interacted with Nkx6.1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed interaction of Nkx6.1 with the glucagon promoter and revealed a direct competition for binding between Pax6 and Nkx6.1. A weak physical interaction between Pax6 and Nkx6.1 was detected in vitro and in vivo suggesting that Nkx6.1 predominantly inhibits glucagon gene transcription through G1-binding competition. We suggest that cell-specific expression of the glucagon gene may only proceed when Nkx6.1, in combination with Pdx1 and Pax4, are silenced in early α-cell precursors.


2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoko Kakizawa ◽  
Shin-ichi Nishio ◽  
Gerard Triqueneaux ◽  
Stephanie Bertrand ◽  
Juliette Rambaud ◽  
...  

The orphan nuclear receptor Rev-erbα (NR1D1) plays an important role in the regulation of the circadian pacemaker and its expression has been shown to be regulated with a robust circadian rhythm in zebrafish and mammals. In addition, in zebrafish its expression has been shown to be developmentally regulated. In order to analyze the mechanisms of the zfRev-erbα gene regulation, we have isolated its 5′-upstream region. We found that two promoters control the zfRev-erbα expression. The first one (ZfP1) is characterized by a very high degree of sequence identity with the mammalian P1 promoter and contains, as the mammalian P1, a functional Rev-erbα-binding site (RevDR2). Inhibition of zfRev-erbα activity in zebrafish embryos using antisense-morpholino knockdown results in an increase of zfRev-erbα gene expression suggesting that zfRev-erbα is repressing its own transcription in vivo. In addition, we show that ROR orphan receptors also regulate in vitro and in vivo zfRev-erbα gene expression through the same RevDR2 element. In contrast, the second promoter ZfP2 is strikingly different from the mammalian P2: its sequence is not conserved between zebrafish and mammals and is not regulated by the same transcription factors. Together, these data suggest that ZfP1 is orthologous to the mammalian P1 promoter, whereas zebrafish ZfP2 has no mammalian ortholog and does not function like ZfP1 to control Rev-erbα expression.


PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. e1009039
Author(s):  
Yi Kuang ◽  
Anna Pyo ◽  
Natanel Eafergan ◽  
Brittany Cain ◽  
Lisa M. Gutzwiller ◽  
...  

Notch signaling controls many developmental processes by regulating gene expression. Notch-dependent enhancers recruit activation complexes consisting of the Notch intracellular domain, the Cbf/Su(H)/Lag1 (CSL) transcription factor (TF), and the Mastermind co-factor via two types of DNA sites: monomeric CSL sites and cooperative dimer sites called Su(H) paired sites (SPS). Intriguingly, the CSL TF can also bind co-repressors to negatively regulate transcription via these same sites. Here, we tested how synthetic enhancers with monomeric CSL sites versus dimeric SPSs bind Drosophila Su(H) complexes in vitro and mediate transcriptional outcomes in vivo. Our findings reveal that while the Su(H)/Hairless co-repressor complex similarly binds SPS and CSL sites in an additive manner, the Notch activation complex binds SPSs, but not CSL sites, in a cooperative manner. Moreover, transgenic reporters with SPSs mediate stronger, more consistent transcription and are more resistant to increased Hairless co-repressor expression compared to reporters with the same number of CSL sites. These findings support a model in which SPS containing enhancers preferentially recruit cooperative Notch activation complexes over Hairless repression complexes to ensure consistent target gene activation.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245618
Author(s):  
Abhinav Adhikari ◽  
William Kim ◽  
Judith Davie

Skeletal muscle gene expression is governed by the myogenic regulatory family (MRF) which includes MyoD (MYOD1) and myogenin (MYOG). MYOD1 and MYOG are known to regulate an overlapping set of muscle genes, but MYOD1 cannot compensate for the absence of MYOG in vivo. In vitro, late muscle genes have been shown to be bound by both factors, but require MYOG for activation. The molecular basis for this requirement was unclear. We show here that MYOG is required for the recruitment of TBP and RNAPII to muscle gene promoters, indicating that MYOG is essential in assembling the transcription machinery. Genes regulated by MYOD1 and MYOG include genes required for muscle fusion, myomaker and myomerger, and we show that myomaker is fully dependent on activation by MYOG. We also sought to determine the role of MYOD1 in MYOG dependent gene activation and unexpectedly found that MYOG is required to maintain Myod1 expression. However, we also found that exogenous MYOD1 was unable to compensate for the loss of Myog and activate muscle gene expression. Thus, our results show that MYOD1 and MYOG act in a feed forward loop to maintain each other’s expression and also show that it is MYOG, and not MYOD1, that is required to load TBP and activate gene expression on late muscle gene promoters bound by both factors.


2009 ◽  
Vol 296 (4) ◽  
pp. F795-F800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris Nechama ◽  
Iddo Z. Ben-Dov ◽  
Justin Silver ◽  
Tally Naveh-Many

Secondary hyperparathyroidism is characterized by increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) mRNA stability that leads to increased PTH mRNA and serum PTH levels. PTH gene expression is reduced by the calcimimetic R568 and the oral phosphorus binder lanthanum carbonate (La). Changes in PTH mRNA stability are regulated by the binding of trans-acting stabilizing and destabilizing factors to a defined cis element in the PTH mRNA 3′-untranslated region (UTR). Adenosine-uridine (AU)-binding factor 1 (AUF1) is a PTH mRNA-stabilizing protein, and K-homology splicing regulatory protein (KSRP) is a destabilizing protein that targets mRNAs, including PTH mRNA, to degradation by the ribonuclease complex exosome. We now show that KSRP-PTH mRNA binding is decreased in parathyroids from rats with adenine-induced chronic kidney disease (CKD) where PTH mRNA is more stable. KSRP-PTH mRNA binding is increased by treatment with both R568 and La, correlating with decreased PTH gene expression. In vitro degradation assays using transcripts for PTH mRNA and rat parathyroid extracts reproduce the differences in mRNA stability in vivo. Accordingly, PTH mRNA is destabilized in vitro by parathyroid extracts from CKD rats treated with R568 or La compared with parathyroid extracts from untreated CKD rats. This destabilizing effect of R568 and La is dependent on KSRP and the PTH mRNA 3′-UTR. Therefore, the calcimimetic R568 and correction of serum phosphorus by La determine PTH mRNA stability through KSRP-mediated recruitment of a degradation complex to the PTH mRNA, thereby decreasing PTH expression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam T. Vogel ◽  
Shelley J. Russek

AbstractAdvancements in genetically based technologies have begun to allow us to better understand the relationships between underlying neural activity and the patterns of measurable behavior that can be reproducibly studied in the laboratory. As this field develops, there are key limitations to the currently available technologies hindering their full potential to deliver meaningful datasets. The limitations which are most critical to advancement of these technologies in behavioral neuroscience are: the temporal resolution at which physiological events can be windowed, the divergent molecular pathways in signal transduction that introduce ambiguity into the output of activity sensors, and the impractical size of the genetic material that requires 3-4 separate AAV vectors to deliver a fully functional system into a cell. To address these limitations and help bring the potential of these types of technologies into better realization, we have engineered a nucleus localized light-sensitive Ca2+-dependent gene expression system based on AsLOV2 and the downstream responsive element antagonist modulator (DREAM). The design and engineering of each component was performed in such a way to: 1) preserve behaviorally relevant temporal dynamics, 2) preserve signal fidelity appropriate for studying experience-driven neural activity patterns and their relationship to specific animal responses, and 3) have full delivery of the genetic material via a single AAV vector. The system was tested in vitro and subsequently in vivo with neural activity induced by Channelrhodopsin and could be used in the future with behaviorally-driven neural activity. To our knowledge this is the first optogenetic tool for the practical use of linking activity-dependent gene activation in response to direct nuclear calcium transduction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (27) ◽  
pp. E3892-E3900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian J. Braun ◽  
Peter M. Bruno ◽  
Max A. Horlbeck ◽  
Luke A. Gilbert ◽  
Jonathan S. Weissman ◽  
...  

Targeted transcriptional regulation is a powerful tool to study genetic mediators of cellular behavior. Here, we show that catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) targeted to genomic regions upstream or downstream of the transcription start site allows for specific and sustainable gene-expression level alterations in tumor cells in vitro and in syngeneic immune-competent mouse models. We used this approach for a high-coverage pooled gene-activation screen in vivo and discovered previously unidentified modulators of tumor growth and therapeutic response. Moreover, by using dCas9 linked to an activation domain, we can either enhance or suppress target gene expression simply by changing the genetic location of dCas9 binding relative to the transcription start site. We demonstrate that these directed changes in gene-transcription levels occur with minimal off-target effects. Our findings highlight the use of dCas9-mediated transcriptional regulation as a versatile tool to reproducibly interrogate tumor phenotypes in vivo.


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