title: Batf promotes growth arrest and terminal differentiation of mouse myeloid leukemia cells.
abstract: Batf is a basic leucine zipper transcription factor belonging to the activator protein-1 superfamily. Batf expression is regulated following stimulation of both lymphoid and myeloid cells. When treated with leukemia inhibitory factor, mouse M1 myeloid leukemia cells commit to a macrophage differentiation program that is dependent on Stat3 and involves the induction of Batf gene transcription via the binding of Stat3 to the Batf promoter. RNA interference was employed to block Batf induction in this system and the cells failed to growth arrest or to terminally differentiate. Restoring Batf expression not only reversed the differentiation-defective phenotype but also caused the cells to display signs of spontaneous differentiation in the absence of stimulation. Efforts to define genetic targets of the Batf transcription factor in M1 cells led to the identification of c-myb, a proto-oncogene known to promote blood cell proliferation and to inhibit the differentiation of M1 cells. These results provide strong evidence that Batf mediates the differentiation-inducing effects of Stat3 signaling in M1 cells and suggest that Batf may play a similar role in other blood cell lineages where alterations to the Jak-Stat pathway are hallmarks of disrupted development and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, 201 South University Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2064, USA.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Sean E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Humphrey
authors.forename: Stacie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Taparowsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D020570:Genes, myb / Q000235:genetics; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000235:genetics; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D034622:RNA Interference; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; C431772:Batf protein, mouse; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D015850:Interleukin-6; C507837:LIF protein, human; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor