title: Characterization of the regulatory domains of the human skn-1a/Epoc-1/Oct-11 POU transcription factor.
abstract: The Skn-1a POU transcription factor is primarily expressed in keratinocytes of murine embryonic and adult epidermis. Although some POU factors expressed in a tissue-specific manner are important for normal differentiation, the biological function of Skn-1a remains unknown. Previous in vitro studies indicate that Skn-1a has the ability to transactivate markers of keratinocyte differentiation. In this study, we have characterized Skn-1a's transactivation domain(s) and engineered a dominant negative protein that lacked this transactivation domain. Deletional analysis of the human homologue of Skn-1a with three target promoters revealed the presence of two functional domains: a primary C-terminal transactivation domain and a combined N-terminal inhibitory domain and transactivation domain. Skn-1a lacking the C-terminal region completely lost transactivation ability, irrespective of the promoter tested, and was able to block transactivation by normal Skn-1a in competition assays. Compared with full-length, Skn-1a lacking the N-terminal region demonstrated either increased transactivation (bovine cytokeratin 6 promoter), comparable transactivation (human papillomavirus type 1a long control region), or loss of transactivation (human papillomavirus type 18 long control region). The identification of a primary C-terminal transactivation domain enabled us to generate a dominant negative Skn-1a factor, which will be useful in the quest for a better understanding of this keratinocyte-specific gene regulator.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Branch, NCI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1908, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hildesheim
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Chamberlin
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D014157:Transcription Factors