Overlapping expression of early B-cell factor and basic helix-loop-helix proteins as a mechanism to dictate B-lineage-specific activity of the lambda5 promoter.
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are a large group of proteins suggested to control key events in the development of B lymphocytes as well as of other cellular lineages. To examine how bHLH proteins activate a B-lineage-specific promoter, I investigated the ability of E47, E12, Heb, E2-2, and MyoD to activate the lambda5 surrogate light chain promoter. Comparison of the functional capacity of the E2A-encoded E47 and E12 proteins indicated that even though both were able to activate the lambda5 promoter and act in synergy with early B-cell factor (EBF), E47 displayed a higher functional activity than E12. An ability to act in synergy with EBF was also observed for Heb, E2-2, and MyoD, suggesting that these factors were functionally redundant in this regard. Mapping of functional domains in EBF and E47 revealed that the dimerization and DNA binding domains mediated the synergistic activity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay analysis using the 5' part of the lambda5 promoter revealed formation of template-dependent heteromeric complexes between EBF and E47, suggesting that the synergistic mechanism involves cooperative binding to DNA. These findings propose a unique molecular function for E47 and provide overlapping expression with EBF as a molecular mechanism to direct B-cell-specific target gene activation by bHLH proteins.
Sigvardsson
M
M
Immunology Group, CMB, Lund University, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden. mikael.sigvardsson@immuno.lu.se
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D019070:Cell Lineage; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019281:Dimerization; D006367:HeLa Cells; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D006801:Humans; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D054444:Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017570:MyoD Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism*; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D058118:Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D054444:Immunoglobulin Light Chains, Surrogate; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D017570:MyoD Protein; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D058118:Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; C081976:EBF1 protein, human; C544912:TCF7L1 protein, human; C544894:TCF7L2 protein, human; C073366:TCF12 protein, human