title: Functional role of a novel ternary complex comprising SRF and CREB in expression of Krox-20 in early embryos of Xenopus laevis.
abstract: Krox-20, originally identified as a member of "immediate-early" genes, plays a crucial role in the formation of two specific segments in the hindbrain during early development of the vertebrate nervous system. Here we cloned a genomic sequence of Xenopus Krox-20 (XKrox-20) and studied functions of a promoter element in the flanking sequence and associated transcription factors, which function in early Xenopus embryos. Using the luciferase reporter assay system, we showed that the 5' flanking sequence was sufficient to induce luciferase activities when the reporter construct was injected into embryos at the eight-cell stage. Deletion and mutagenesis analyses of the 5' flanking sequence revealed a minimal promoter element that included two known subelements, a CArG-box and cAMP response element (CRE) within a stretch of 22 bp nucleotide sequence (-72 to -51 from the transcription initiation site), both of which were essential for the promoter activity. The gel mobility shift assay indicated that these two subelements bound to some components in whole cell extracts prepared from stage 20 Xenopus embryos. Antibody supershift and competition experiments revealed that these components in cell extracts were serum response factor (SRF) and a member of CRE binding protein (CREB) family proteins that bound the CArG-box and CRE, respectively. They appeared to assemble on the minimal promoter element to produce a novel ternary complex. When we injected mRNA of a dominant-negative version of Xenopus SRF (XSRFDeltaC) into animal pole blastomeres at the eight-cell stage, expression of XKrox-20 in the nervous system as well as the minimal promoter activity was strongly suppressed. Suppression by XSRFDeltaC was counteracted by coexpressed wild-type XSRF. These results indicate that XSRF functions as an endogenous activator of XKrox-20 by forming a ternary complex with CREB on the minimal promoter element.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Sciences, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Ikuko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hongo
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kidokoro
authors.forename: Harumasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051767:Early Growth Response Protein 2; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D040461:Gene Components; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008156:Luciferases / Q000378:metabolism; D008845:Microinjections; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D026362:Serum Response Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497329:EGR2 protein, Xenopus; D051767:Early Growth Response Protein 2; D026362:Serum Response Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors; D008156:Luciferases