Nuclear localization of beta-catenin by interaction with transcription factor LEF-1.
Vertebrate beta-catenin and Drosophila Armadillo share structural similarities suggesting that beta-catenin, like Armadillo, has a developmental signaling function. Both proteins are present as components of cell adherens junctions, but accumulate in the cytoplasm upon Wingless/Wnt signaling. beta-Catenin has axis-inducing properties like Wnt when injected into Xenopus blastomeres, providing evidence for participation of beta-catenin in the Wnt-pathway, but until now no downstream targets for beta-catenin have been identified. Here we demonstrate that beta-catenin binds to the HMG-type transcription factor lymphoid enhancer factor-1 (LEF-1), resulting in a nuclear translocation of beta-catenin both in cultured mouse cells and after ectopic expression of LEF-1 in two-cell mouse embryos. LEF-1/beta-catenin complexes bind to the promoter region of the E-cadherin gene in vitro, suggesting that this interaction could regulate E-cadherin transcription. As shown for beta-catenin, ectopic expression of LEF-1 in Xenopus embryos caused duplication of the body axis, indicating a regulatory role for a LEF-1-like molecule in dorsal mesoderm formation.
Department of Molecular Embryology, Max-Planck Institute for Immunobiology, Freiburg, Germany.
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Huber
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Korn
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McLaughlin
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Ohsugi
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Herrmann
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Kemler
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014981:Xenopus; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin
C495266:CTNNB1 protein, Xenopus; C495267:CTNNB1 protein, mouse; D015820:Cadherins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497574:Lef1 protein, mouse; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin