title: Brain 4: a novel mammalian POU domain transcription factor exhibiting restricted brain-specific expression.
abstract: The POU domain gene family of transcription factors share a conserved bipartite DNA binding domain, and exhibit distinct temporal and spatial patterns of expression during development, particularly in the forebrain. A cDNA encoding a new member of the POU-III class of the POU domain gene family, referred to as Brn-4, was isolated from a rat hypothalamic cDNA library. Like other mammalian POU-III genes previously characterized (Brn-1, Brn-2, Tst-1), Brn-4 transcripts are initially widely expressed at all levels of the developing neural tube, but in contrast to other previously described POU-III genes, are subsequently restricted to only a few regions of the adult forebrain, including the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus. Brn-4 was shown to bind to DNA sequences containing the octamer motif and to trans-activate promoters containing this DNA binding motif, based on the actions of a unique N-terminal information. This ontogenic pattern of Brn-4 expression in concert with that of Oct-2 and Pit-1, indicates that certain POU domain genes potentially exert their primary functions widely during early neural development, and in a very limited set of neurons in the mature brain.
authors.affiliation: Eukaryotic Regulatory Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0648.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mathis
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D050809:POU Domain Factors; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D050809:POU Domain Factors; C484088:Pou3f4 protein, rat; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA