title: AEBP2 as a transcriptional activator and its role in cell migration.
abstract: Aebp2 encodes an evolutionarily conserved zinc finger protein that has not been well studied so far, yet recent studies indicated that this gene is closely associated with the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2). Thus, the current study characterized the basic aspects of this gene, including alternative promoters and protein isoforms. According to the results, Aebp2 is controlled through three alternative promoters, deriving three different transcripts encoding the embryonic (32 kDa) and somatic (52 kDa) forms. Chromatin Immuno-Precipitation (ChIP) experiments revealed that AEBP2 binds to its own promoter as well as the promoters of Jarid2 and Snai2. While the embryonic form acts as a transcriptional repressor for Snai2, the somatic form functions as a transcriptional activator for Jarid2, Aebp2 and Snai2. Cell migration assays also demonstrated that the Aebp2 somatic form has an enhancing activity in cell migration. This is consistent with the functional association of Aebp2 with migratory neural crest cells. These results suggest that the two protein isoforms of AEBP2 may have opposite functions for the PcG target genes, and may play significant roles in cell migration during development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ekram
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
authors.forename: Arundhati
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. Electronic address: jkim@lsu.edu.
authors.forename: Joomyeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: C541953:Aebp2 protein, mouse; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C093650:Jarid2 protein, mouse; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C000604449:Snai2 protein, mouse; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D063151:Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
keywords: Aebp2; Cell migration; Neural crest cells; Polycomb Repressive Complex 2