title: Temporal and spatial control of murine GATA-3 transcription by promoter-proximal regulatory elements.
abstract: GATA-3 is expressed in a temporally dynamic manner and fulfills vital functions during vertebrate fetal development. Homozygous mGATA-3 mutant embryos die at midgestation, thus complicating the analysis of its contribution to the development of specific cell fates in the many tissues where it is expressed during embryogenesis. We show here that the elements controlling GATA-3 regulation can be precisely refined, using transgenic mice, to discrete cis-acting domains: within 6 kb surrounding the transcriptional initiation site, separate sequences were found to control the expression of mGATA-3 in early muscle masses, in a subset of PNS neurons, in the genital tubercle, and in the branchial arches. The branchial arch regulatory element is particularly robust and was refined to a discrete enhancer sequence lying between nt -2832 and -2462 from the transcription initiation site. The enhancer contains potential binding sites for many well-characterized transcription factors, suggesting that mGATA-3 transcriptional activity may be regulated by these proteins (or related family members) in the mesenchyme of the arches that contribute to formation of the jaw. These studies show that discrete regulatory elements required for the elaboration of complex developmental programs can be individually localized, suggesting that the developmentally transient expression of individual transcription factors collaboratively contributes to the temporal and spatial pattern of cellular differentiation leading to the formation of adult anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3500, USA.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lieuw
authors.forename: G l
authors.initials: Gl
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grosveld
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Engel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001934:Branchial Region / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I / Q000378:metabolism; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D050990:GATA3 Transcription Factor; D005724:Ganglia / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D005835:Genitalia / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D007568:Jaw / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D007763:Lac Operon / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D016335:Zinc Fingers; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050990:GATA3 Transcription Factor; C494748:Gata3 protein, mouse; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I; D001616:beta-Galactosidase