title: Differential regulation of AP-1 and novel TRE-specific DNA-binding complexes during differentiation of oligodendrocyte-type-2-astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cells.
abstract: AP-1 is an ubiquitous transcription factor which is composed of the Jun and Fos proto-oncogene proteins and is thought to play a role in both cell proliferation and differentiation. We have used an immortal, bipotential oligodendrocyte-type-2 astrocyte progenitor cell line (O-2A/c-myc) which can differentiate into oligodendrocytes or type-2 astrocytes in vitro, to investigate whether AP-1 DNA-binding activity fluctuates during glial cell differentiation. Unexpectedly, DNA-mobility shift assays using a TRE-containing oligonucleotide derived from the promoter of the glial-specific gene, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP/AP-1), revealed that O-2A/c-myc progenitor cells were devoid of conventional AP-1 DNA-binding complexes. O-2A/c-myc cells did however contain several novel GFAP/AP-1-specific DNA-binding complexes, which we have termed APprog. APprog complexes recognise the TRE consensus motif present in the GFAP/AP-1 oligonucleotide together with adjacent 3' sequences but do not contain c-Jun or any other known Jun-related proteins. When O-2A/c-myc cells underwent terminal differentiation APprog complexes were lost and conventional AP-1 DNA-binding activity became evident, particularly in astrocytes. These changes appear to be closely linked to the differentiation process since they did not occur in a derivative of the O-2A/c-myc cell line that contains an activated v-ras oncogene and which fails to differentiate under appropriate culture conditions. The inverse regulation of conventional AP-1 and APprog complexes within the O-2A lineage suggests that these factors may play a role in the regulation of glial cell differentiation or glial cell-specific gene expression.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Neurology, CRC Beatson Laboratories, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosario
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kilbey
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lovatt
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D019070:Cell Lineage; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1