title: Purification of PO-B, a protein that has increased affinity for the pro-opiomelanocortin gene promoter after dephosphorylation.
abstract: The region -15 to -3 of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene promoter specifically binds a transcription factor previously designated PO-B. This region of the POMC gene is involved in the control of constitutive POMC gene expression since mutation of the PO-B DNA-binding site severely reduces transcription from the POMC promoter both in vivo and in vitro (Riegel, A. T., Remenick, J., Wolford, R., Berard, D., and Hager, G. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 4513-4521). We have now purified PO-B from HeLa cells approximately 25,000-fold to greater than 90% homogeneity by a combination of ion exchange and reversed phase chromatography. In addition we have studied post-translational modifications that alter the affinity of purified PO-B for its cognate DNA binding site. In Southwestern analysis of column fractions, two bands of apparent molecular masses of 54 and 56 kDa bound specifically to the PO-B recognition sequence. The two copurified components have indistinguishable amino acid composition, are highly hydrophobic, and are heat and acid stable. DNA-binding specificity studies suggest that PO-B does not represent any previously described transcription factor. In addition, dephosphorylation of both species with acid phosphatase induced an about 30-fold increase in DNA binding but failed to produce any significant change in electrophoretic mobility. We conclude that the purified PO-B species represent products of the same gene and suggest that the in vivo function of PO-B may be regulated by its phosphorylation status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vincent T Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C. 20007.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wellstein
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dobrenski
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Radonovich
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Riegel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D004247:DNA