Fusion of the EWS-related gene TAF2N to TEC in extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma.
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Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcomas (EMCs) are characterized by a recurrent t(9;22)(q22;q12) translocation, resulting in the fusion of the EWS gene in 22q12 and the TEC gene in 9q22. Here we report that a third member of the EWS, TLS/FUS gene family, TAF2N, can replace EWS as a fusion partner to TEC in EMC. Two tumors, one with a novel t(9;17)(q22;q11) variant translocation and one with an apparently normal karyotype, expressed TAF2N-TEC fusion transcripts. In both cases, the chimeric transcripts were shown to contain exon 6 of TAF2N fused to the entire coding region of TEC. This transcript is structurally and functionally very similar to the EWS-TEC fusions. The exchange of the EWS NH2-terminal part with the TAF2N NH2-terminal part in EMC further underscores the oncogenic potential of these protein domains as partners in fusion genes. (+info)
Glucocorticoids have pleiotropic effects on small intestinal crypt cells.
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Glucocorticoids have long been known to accelerate maturation of the intestinal tract, but the molecular mechanisms that account for their physiological function in the epithelium remain poorly characterized. Using rat intestinal epithelial cell lines (IEC-6, IEC-17, and IEC-18) as models, we have characterized glucocorticoid receptors in crypt cells and documented striking morphological, ultrastructural, and functional alterations induced by these hormones in intestinal cells. They include arrest of growth, formation of tight junctions, appearance of long, slender microvilli, reorganization of the endoplasmic reticulum and trans-Golgi network, and downregulation of the cell cycle regulatory proteins cyclin-dependent kinase 6 and p27(Kip1). These effects are consistent with the activation or modulation of multiple genes important in the physiological function of absorptive villous cells but are probably not directly involved in the induction of cell differentiation. (+info)
Transcriptional activation of human TR3/nur77 gene expression by human T-lymphotropic virus type I Tax protein through two AP-1-like elements.
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The Tax transactivator of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is capable of inducing expression of the human immediate-early TR3/nur77 gene. Deletion and mutation analyses of the TR3/nur77 promoter demonstrated that multiple transcription elements in the 121 bp sequence proximal to the transcription start site are required for full Tax transactivation. Mutations of CArG-like, Ets and RCE motifs in this region severely decreased Tax transactivation. Mutation of either of the two identical AP-1-like elements (NAP 1 and 2) immediately upstream of the TATA box caused around 80% reduction of Tax transactivation. Mutation of both NAP elements blocked Tax-mediated activation totally. These two NAP elements could confer Tax-responsiveness on a heterologous basal promoter. Furthermore, the specific NAP-binding complex was only observed in HTLV-I-infected cells. Formation of this specific NAP-binding complex was correlated directly with Tax expression, as demonstrated in JPX-9 cells upon induction of Tax expression. The specific NAP binding could be competed for by consensus AP-1 and CREB elements, indicating that the NAP-binding proteins probably belong to the AP-1 and CREB/ATF transcription factor families. Supershift analysis with antibodies to both the AP-1 and CREB/ATF transcription factor families revealed that only anti-JunD antibody could partially shift this NAP-binding complex, indicating that JunD is a component of the NAP complex. This work suggests that JunD is involved in Tax-regulated TR3/nur77 expression. (+info)
The orphan human pregnane X receptor mediates the transcriptional activation of CYP3A4 by rifampicin through a distal enhancer module.
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Cytochrome P-450 3A4 (CYP3A4), the predominant cytochrome P-450 expressed in adult human liver, is subject to transcriptional induction by a variety of structurally unrelated xenobiotics, including the antibiotic rifampicin. The molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. We transfected a human liver-derived cell line (HepG2) with various CYP3A4-luciferase reporter gene constructs containing a nested set of 5'-deletions of the CYP3A4 5'-flanking region. Rifampicin-inducible transcription of the reporter gene was observed only with the longest construct, which encompassed bases -13000 to +53 of CYP3A4 (3-fold induction). The responsive region was functional regardless of its position or orientation relative to the proximal promoter of CYP3A4 and was capable of conferring rifampicin-inducible expression on a heterologous promoter. Further deletion mutants localized the induction to bases -7836 to -7607. In vitro DNase I footprint analysis of this region revealed four protected sites (FP1, FP2, FP3, and FP4). Two of these sites, FP3 (bases -7738 to -7715) and FP4 (bases -7698 to -7682), overlapped binding motifs for the orphan human pregnane X receptor (hPXR). Cotransfection of responsive constructs with a hPXR expression vector substantially increased the rifampicin-inducibility to approximately 50-fold. In addition, the rifampicin-responsive constructs were strongly activated by a range of CYP3A inducers. Finally, we demonstrate cooperativity between elements within the distal enhancer region and cis-acting elements in the proximal promoter of CYP3A4. Our results provide evidence for the existence of a potent enhancer module, 8 kb distal to the transcription start point, which mediates the transcriptional induction of CYP3A4 by activators of hPXR. (+info)
Family of human oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) homologues. A novel member implicated in brain sterol metabolism.
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Oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) is a cytosolic protein that undergoes ligand-induced binding to the Golgi apparatus and has been implicated in the regulation of cellular cholesterol metabolism. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae an OSBP homologue is involved in membrane trafficking through the Golgi complex. Prompted by the multitude of OSBP-related genes in the yeast genome, we carried out a search for human expressed sequence tags (ESTs) displaying homology to the sterol-binding domain of OSBP. This revealed a minimum of six novel OSBP-related proteins, designated ORP-1 to ORP-6. ORP cDNA probes were generated by reverse transcription-PCR from human liver mRNA, and used for Northern blot analysis of human tissue transcript panels. This verified that each of them represents a different gene product and showed that they display distinct tissue-specific expression patterns. The ORP-1 and -2 mRNA expression levels were similar to or higher than that of OSBP while the ORP-3 to -6 mRNAs were detected at lower levels in specific tissues. The most abundantly expressed new gene, ORP-1, was transcribed at strikingly high levels in the cortical areas of human brain and displayed sterol-regulated expression in a cultured human neuroblastoma cell line. This indicates that ORP-1 may play an important role in maintaining the sterol balance in cells of the central nervous system. Together with OSBP, the identified gene products constitute a novel human protein family that may provide a link between organellar sterol status and membrane dynamics. (+info)
Functional interactions between C/EBP, Sp1, and COUP-TF regulate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gene transcription in human brain cells.
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Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infects the central nervous system (CNS) and plays a direct role in the pathogenesis of AIDS dementia. However, mechanisms underlying HIV-1 gene expression in the CNS are poorly understood. The importance of CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBP) for HIV-1 expression in cells of the immune system has been recently reported. In this study, we have examined the role and the molecular mechanisms by which proteins of the C/EBP family regulate HIV-1 gene transcription in human brain cells. We found that NF-IL6 acts as a potent activator of the long terminal repeat (LTR)-driven transcription in microglial and oligodendroglioma cells. In contrast, C/EBPgamma inhibits NF-IL6-induced activation. Consistent with previous data, our transient expression results show cell-type-specific NF-IL6-mediated transactivation. In glial cells, full activation needs the presence of the C/EBP binding sites; however, NF-IL6 is still able to function via the minimal -40/+80 region. In microglial cells, C/EBP sites are not essential, since NF-IL6 acts through the -68/+80 LTR region, containing two binding sites for the transcription factor Sp1. Moreover, we show that functional interactions between NF-IL6 and Sp1 lead to synergistic transcriptional activation of the LTR in oligodendroglioma and to mutual repression in microglial cells. We further demonstrate that NF-IL6 physically interacts with the nuclear receptor chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor (COUP-TF), via its DNA binding domain, in vitro and in cells, which results in mutual transcriptional repression. These findings reveal how the interplay of NF-IL6 and C/EBPgamma, together with Sp1 and COUP-TF, regulates HIV-1 gene transcription in brain cells. (+info)
Identification of COUP-TF as a transcriptional repressor of the c-mos proto-oncogene.
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The c-mos proto-oncogene is specifically expressed in the male and female germ cells of the mouse and other vertebrates. We previously identified a 15-base pair sequence element (B2) as the binding site of a candidate repressor of c-mos transcription in somatic cells. In the present study, we used the yeast one-hybrid system to isolate HeLa cell cDNAs encoding proteins that specifically bound to the c-mos B2 element. Nucleotide sequencing identified several of the clones isolated in this screen as the orphan nuclear receptors COUP-TFI and COUP-TFII. A COUP-TF-binding site was then identified within the B2 sequence. Complexes formed between purified COUP-TFs and the c-mos B2 probe comigrated in electrophoretic mobility shift assays with those formed using whole nuclear extracts of NIH 3T3 or HeLa cells. Moreover, the complexes formed with NIH 3T3 nuclear extracts and B2 probe were supershifted with antibody against COUP-TF, identifying COUP-TF as the candidate repressor previously detected in these somatic cell extracts. Substitution of a consensus COUP-TF-binding site for the c-mos negative regulatory element suppressed expression from the c-mos promoter in transfected somatic cells, demonstrating the functional activity of COUP-TF as a repressor of c-mos transcription. (+info)
Activation of the mouse oxytocin promoter by the orphan receptor RORalpha.
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Although an increasing number of nuclear orphan receptors have recently been identified, the number of known naturally occurring genes that are directly regulated by orphan receptors is still small. We have shown previously that the gene encoding the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is negatively regulated by the orphan receptors chicken ovalbumin upstream transcription factor I (COUP-TFI) and II. Here we show that the mouse OT gene promoter is activated by RORalpha, a representative of the ROR/RZR orphan receptor subfamily. Using promoter/chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter constructs in heterologous transfection assays, we determined that RORalpha action induces a <6-fold increase in promoter activity. By 5' and 3' deletion analysis, DNase footprint analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we found that RORalpha action is mediated by two 14 bp regions centered at 160 and 180 nucleotides upstream of the transcriptional initiation site. Both sites contain significant sequence identities with an established ROR recognition sequence. Mutations in either or both of these sites reduce significantly RORalpha-induced activation of the OT promoter. In view of the strong transcriptional activation exerted by RORalpha on the OT gene promoter and the widespread distribution of different members of the ROR/RZR family, interactions between ROR/RZR isoforms and the OT gene may form part of the multifactorial regulatory mechanisms that control OT gene expression in different tissues. (+info)