Groucho and dCtBP mediate separate pathways of transcriptional repression in the Drosophila embryo.
The precellular Drosophila embryo contains approximately 10 well characterized transcriptional repressors. At least half are short-range repressors that must bind within 100 bp of either upstream activators or the core transcription complex to inhibit (or quench) gene expression. The two long-range repressors can function over distances of 1 kilobase or more to silence transcription. Previous studies have shown that three of the five short-range repressors interact with a common corepressor protein, dCtBP. In contrast, the two long-range repressors, Hairy and Dorsal, recruit a different corepressor protein, Groucho. Hairy also was shown to interact with dCtBP, thereby raising the possibility that Groucho and dCtBP are components of a common corepressor complex. To investigate this issue, we have misexpressed wild-type and mutant forms of Hairy in transgenic embryos. Evidence is presented that Hairy-mediated repression depends on the Groucho interaction sequence (WRPW) but not the weak dCtBP motif (PLSLV) present in the native protein. Conversion of the PLSLV motif into an optimal dCtBP interaction sequence (PLDLS) disrupts the activity of an otherwise normal Hairy protein. These results suggest that dCtBP and Groucho mediate separate pathways of transcriptional repression and that the two proteins can inhibit one another when both bind the same repressor.
Zhang
H
H
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics and Development, 401 Barker Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Levine
M
M
D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D047108:Embryonic Development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors
D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C067777:Sxl protein, Drosophila; C062236:dl protein, Drosophila; C091023:gro protein, Drosophila; C489235:hairy protein, Drosophila; C061841:hairy protein, insect; C096794:C-terminal binding protein