title: Cloning of a lymphoid-specific cDNA encoding a protein binding the regulatory octamer DNA motif.
abstract: An octamer DNA sequence plays a critical role in directing transcription of immunoglobulin genes in B lymphocytes. A new technique of direct binding of radioactive DNA was used to screen a complementary DNA expression library from the BJAB cell line in lambda gt11 phage to derive molecular cDNA clones representing a putative B lymphocyte-specific octamer binding protein. The plaques were screened with DNA containing four copies of the octamer sequence and positive phage recombinants were identified. The fusion protein produced on inducing a lysogen of one phage bound to a monomeric octamer probe. The cDNA insert from this phage hybridized to messenger RNA found in B lymphocytes, but not in most other cells. Thus, this cDNA derives from a gene (oct-2) that specifies an octamer binding protein expressed preferentially in B lymphocytes, proving that, for at least one gene, a cell-specific transcription factor exists and its amount is controlled through messenger RNA availability.
authors.affiliation: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Staudt
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Clerc
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: LeBowitz
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baltimore
mesh_terms: D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA