title: The zinc finger repressor, ZBP-89, binds to the silencer element of the human vimentin gene and complexes with the transcriptional activator, Sp1.
abstract: Vimentin is a component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton belonging to the family of intermediate filament proteins. It exhibits a complex pattern of tissue- and development-specific expression. It is also a marker of the metastatic potential of many tumor cells. Previously, the human vimentin promoter was shown to contain several regions for the binding of positive and negative acting regulatory factors. Until now, the silencer element, which shuts down vimentin synthesis in selected tissues during development, was not precisely localized; nor was its binding protein known. In vivo DMS footprinting by ligation-mediated PCR delineated the position of guanine residues important to vimentin expression. Transient transfection assays in HeLa cells of various vimentin 5'-end promoter sequences and mutants thereof precisely defined two regulatory elements, a negative element and an adjoining positive acting element. Band shift assays, UV cross-linking, and Southwestern blot analysis confirm that the silencer element specifically binds a protein. Several lines of evidence show that ZBP-89, a zinc finger, Kruppel-like repressor protein is vimentin's silencer element binding factor. Co-immunoprecipitation and DNA affinity chromatography prove that Sp1 heterodimerizes with ZBP-89 when bound to the silencer element to yield a DNA-protein complex whose mobility is indistinguishable from that displayed by HeLa nuclear extract in band shift assays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and the Massey Cancer Center, Medical College of Virginia Campus/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wieczorek
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Merchant
authors.forename: Z E
authors.initials: ZE
authors.lastname: Zehner
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006147:Guanine / Q000737:chemistry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014746:Vimentin / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014746:Vimentin; C110951:ZNF148 protein, human; D006147:Guanine; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase