title: ELF-1 interacts with and transactivates the IgH enhancer pi site.
abstract: We previously identified a B-cell-specific regulatory element in the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) enhancer, pi, with striking similarity to binding sites for ets-related transcription factors. Whereas the ability of ets-related factors to bind to and transactivate the pi site has been substantiated, the identification of the particular member of the ets family responsible for B-cell-specific regulation of the pi site has remained controversial. We have used antibodies specific for individual members of the ets family to evaluate which ets-related factor in B-cell nuclear extracts interacts with the IgH pi site. We present strong evidence that ELF-1 is highly expressed in B-cells and is one of two major factors specifically interacting with the murine IgH enhancer pi site in B-cell nuclear extracts. Binding of ELF-1 correlates with activity of the pi site, since mutations abolishing function of pi also inhibit binding of ELF-1. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ELF-1 can transactivate the IgH enhancer in HeLa cells, suggesting a role for ELF-1 in B-cell-specific IgH gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akbarali
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oettgen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boltax
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Libermann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D006367:HeLa Cells; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C512897:ELF1 protein, human; C512896:Elf1 protein, mouse; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors