title: Positive and negative regulation of endogenous genes by designed transcription factors.
abstract: Gene regulation by imposed localization was studied by using designed zinc finger proteins that bind 18-bp DNA sequences in the 5' untranslated regions of the protooncogenes erbB-2 and erbB-3. Transcription factors were generated by fusion of the DNA-binding proteins to repression or activation domains. When introduced into cells these transcription factors acted as dominant repressors or activators of, respectively, endogenous erbB-2 or erbB-3 gene expression. Significantly, imposed regulation of the two genes was highly specific, despite the fact that the transcription factor binding sites targeted in erbB-2 and erbB-3 share 15 of 18 nucleotides. Regulation of erbB-2 gene expression was observed in cells derived from several species that conserve the DNA target sequence. Repression of erbB-2 in SKBR3 breast cancer cells inhibited cell-cycle progression by inducing a G(1) accumulation, suggesting the potential of designed transcription factors for cancer gene therapy. These results demonstrate the willful up- and down-regulation of endogenous genes, and provide an additional means to alter biological systems.
authors.affiliation: The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Beerli
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dreier
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Barbas
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018390:Gene Targeting; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D018815:Genes, erbB / Q000235:genetics; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000494:pharmacology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014162:Transfection; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors