title: Functional dissection of the Hox protein Abdominal-B in Drosophila cell culture.
abstract: Hox transcription factors regulate the morphogenesis along the anterior-posterior (A/P) body axis through the interaction with small cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) of their target gene, however so far very few Hox CRMs are known and have been analyzed in detail. In this study we have identified a new Hox CRM, ct340, which guides the expression of the cell type specification gene cut (ct) in the posterior spiracle under the direct control of the Hox protein Abdominal-B (Abd-B). Using the ct340 enhancer activity as readout, an efficient cloning system to generate VP16 activation domain fusion protein was developed to unambiguously test protein-DNA interaction in Drosophila cell culture. By functionally dissecting the Abd-B protein, new features of Abd-B dependent target gene regulation were detected. Due to its easy adaptability, this system can be generally used to map functional domains within sequence-specific transcriptional factors in Drosophila cell culture, and thus provide preliminary knowledge of the protein functional domain structure for further in vivo analysis.
authors: Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Zongzhao
authors: Z
authors: Zhai
authors: Xingke
authors: X
authors: Yang
authors: Ingrid
authors: I
authors: Lohmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C066591:abd-A protein, Drosophila; D004247:DNA