SCL and related hemopoietic helix-loop-helix transcription factors.
The helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins are a family of transcription factors that include proteins critical to differentiation and development in species ranging from plants to mammals. Five members of this family (MYC, SCL, TAL-2, LYL-1 and E2A) are implicated in oncogenic events in human lymphoid tumors because of their consistent involvement in chromosomal translocations. Although activated in T cell leukemias, expression of SCL and LYL-1 is low or undetectable in normal T cell populations. SCL is expressed in erythroid, megakaryocyte and mast cell populations (the same cell lineages as GATA-1, a zinc-finger transcription factor). In addition, both SCL and GATA-1 undergo coordinate modulation during chemically induced erythroid differentiation of mouse erythroleukemia cells and are down-modulated during myeloid differentiation of human K562 cells, thus implying a role for SCL in erythroid differentiation events. However, in contrast to GATA-1, SCL is expressed in the developing brain. Studies of the function of SCL suggest it is also important in proliferation and self-renewal events in erythroid cells.
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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
Begley
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D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000073942:T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014178:Translocation, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000073942:T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1; D014157:Transcription Factors; C489366:Tal1 protein, mouse; C067143:TAL1 protein, human