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Biomedical subjects

M Yaniv

Publications and source records attributed to M Yaniv.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Both Jun and Fos contribute to transcription activation by the heterodimer.

Comparison of the amino acid sequence of the three members of the mouse jun proto-oncogene family, c-jun, jun B and jun D, reveals several homologous segments. The most C-terminal of them including a leucine zipper motif and a cluster of basic amino acids was previously identified as the DNA binding domain. By deletion analysis, we show that three conserved domains in the N-terminal region are crucial for transactivation by Jun homodimers. Only one of these is predicted to form an acidic amphipathic alpha-helix. The addition of Fos and the formation of Jun-Fos heterodimers strongly increases the transactivation level. Jun mutants that are inactive alone gain partial or full activity in the presence of Fos. This increase strongly depends on the presence of the C-terminal domain of Fos. These results show that in Jun-Fos heterodimers both the N-terminal part of Jun and the C-terminal part of Fos contribute to transactivation with a more pronounced role for the latter.

Chromosome Deletion↗

Overexpression of avian or mouse c-jun in primary chick embryo fibroblasts confers a partially transformed phenotype.

The coding sequences of avian (quail) or murine c-jun proto-oncogenes were introduced into a non-defective retroviral vector derived from Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) in which c-jun replaces v-src. Primary avian fibroblasts chronically infected with either one of these viruses exhibit some phenotypic traits characteristic of RSV-transformed cells, including sustained growth in low serum medium and ability to develop colonies from single cells in agar, even though they are still of normal morphology and contact inhibited. This altered growth control correlates with enhanced AP1-specific DNA binding activity as well as with higher levels of c-Jun products. Unexpectedly, repression of the endogenous c-Jun product is observed in cells overexpressing murine c-Jun. Cells expressing the avian and the murine c-Jun products display qualitatively similar phenotypes; nevertheless, for every transformed trait considered, the murine c-jun seemed more potent than its quail homologue. These data suggest that the avian or murine c-jun proto-oncogenes may trigger a subset of the 'transforming functions' normally induced by v-src, and which are more specifically related to growth in low serum and in the absence of solid support.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Anatomy of the rat albumin promoter.

The sequences preceding the albumin mRNA start site are able to direct efficient transcription only upon introduction into cells expressing the endogenous albumin gene. In transient expression assays, the activity of a reporter gene (CAT) linked to this promoter is 100-fold higher in H4II differentiated hepatoma cells than in H5 dedifferentiated cells which no longer express their albumin gene. This tissue specificity depends on the very proximal promoter region, composed of a CCAAT box, the proximal element and a TATA box. Deletion of the CCAAT box leads to a two- to threefold decrease in activity, deletion of the proximal element (PE) results in loss of activity. The PE is a high-affinity binding site for HNF1/APF, a strictly liver specific trans-acting factor. When the affinity of this factor for PE is decreased by bacterial methylation (PE includes a dam methylase site), by mutation, or by its replacement with the homologous element from the alpha-fetoprotein gene (AFP), the activity of the short promoter (PE plus the TATA box) is abolished. This activity can be rescued in the presence of the more upstream elements: DEII, DEI and the CCAAT box (recognized, respectively, by the NF1/CTF, C/EBP and NFY/ACF factors) which are then absolutely required. Our results suggest that the upstream elements contribute to promoter activity by stabilizing the HNF1-PE complex and not by direct interaction with TFIID or the RNA polymerase. It is probable that these elements, essentially dispensable in already differentiated hepatoma cells, play a crucial role during development or differentiation to activate the promoter in cells that contain a low concentration of HNF1 and/or an HNF1 unable to open inactive chromatin alone.

Animals↗

Protein-binding elements in the promoter region of the mouse p53 gene.

p53 is a cellular protein whose expression plays a crucial role in the regulation of cell proliferation and of neoplastic processes. p53 mRNA levels in mouse fibroblasts can be elevated in response to TPA and to serum stimulation. The promoter region of the p53 gene contains a conserved element which is highly homologous to the consensus AP1 binding site (7/8 matching bases). This AP1-like site, denoted the PF1 site, confers upon a heterologous promoter ability to respond to elevated expression of c-jun. Furthermore, the PF1 site binds protein(s) in a specific and serum-induced manner. Unexpectedly, this factor is most probably not AP1, as evident from the inability of an authentic AP1 site to compete the binding efficiently, as well as from the failure of purified AP1 to bind to the PF1 site. Hence, PF1 may be a novel AP1-related transcription factor. In addition, the 5' region of the p53 gene also contains an NF1 binding site, whose location suggests a possible regulatory role.

Animals↗

Characterization of junD: a new member of the jun proto-oncogene family.

In an extensive screen of a cDNA library prepared from serum-stimulated mouse NIH 3T3 cells, we identified three distinct jun-related clones. Two of them were carrying c-jun and junB sequences respectively, whereas the sequence of the third group of clones (junD) was distinct from these two and from v-jun. The amino acid sequences derived from these jun-related clones are very well conserved in five distinct regions including the putative DNA binding domain. Truncated c-Jun and JunD proteins containing the C-terminus recognize the same DNA sequences which were defined as the PEA1/AP1 binding sequence or TPA response element (TRE). Furthermore, both can trans-activate a promoter including the TRE, and this activation is further enhanced by c-fos. Contrary to c-jun and junB transcription, which are strongly stimulated by serum or TPA treatment of quiescent 3T3 cells, junD transcription is not significantly stimulated in these conditions. The tissue distribution and levels of expression of junD mRNA differ from that of c-jun and junB mRNA. These observations suggest that each of these Jun-related gene products has a distinct role in the control of gene activity and growth in the organism.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Functional analysis of the papilloma virus E2 trans-activator in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The papilloma virus E2 transcriptional trans-activator is representative of a class of transcriptional modulators that activate transcription through direct binding to cis-acting DNA sequences. In this study we measured the capacity for this mammalian virus factor to function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. When expressed in the yeast, the bovine papilloma virus E2 trans-activator could stimulate transcription from a yeast promoter having E2 DNA-binding sites present in cis. Whereas a single E2 DNA-binding site was sufficient for trans-activation, a strong cooperative effect was observed with two E2 DNA-binding sites. The level of trans-activation was dependent on the position of the E2 DNA-binding sites in relation to the yeast promoter, with the maximal effect demonstrated when the binding sites were positioned upstream. Deleted E2 proteins, lacking part of the trans-activation or DNA-binding domains, failed to activate transcription in yeast, similar to their behavior in mammalian cells. Replacement of the amino-terminal region of the E2 trans-activation domain with a synthetic amphipathic helix partially restored the trans-activation function; however, it did not result in a molecule that exhibited cooperativity between neighboring E2 DNA-binding sites.

DNA-Binding Proteins↗

The human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) E2 gene product is a repressor of the HPV18 regulatory region in human keratinocytes.

The human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) long control region (LCR) harbors transcriptional promoter and enhancer elements. Recombinant plasmids bearing all or part of the HPV18 LCR cloned in enhancer or promoter configuration upstream of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene were transfected into human fibroblasts and keratinocytes. Although the HPV18 enhancer can function in the absence of E2 gene products in both fibroblasts and keratinocytes, the promoter activity of the HPV18 LCR is detectable in keratinocytes but not in fibroblasts, suggesting that it is tissue specific. This promoter activity was repressed in human keratinocytes not only by the bovine papillomavirus type 1 E2 gene product but also by the homologous HPV18 E2 gene product. The promoter involved in the HPV18 E2 repression is located within a 230-base-pair domain directly upstream of the E6 open reading frame of the HPV18 LCR and is probably the previously identified E6 promoter. Although one cannot rule out the possibility that this repressing effect is mediated by a truncated form of HPV18 E2 protein, as was previously demonstrated for bovine papillomavirus type 1, a more likely explanation would be that the full-length HPV18 E2 protein behaves as a repressor. Indeed, at the same doses at which it inhibits transcription from the homologous HPV18 LCR, the HPV18 E2 gene product activates transcription from constructs bearing E2-binding palindromes cloned in enhancer configuration upstream of a heterologous promoter. The fact that the homologous HPV18 E2 gene product acts as a transcriptional repressor of the HPV18 LCR suggests a possible explanation for the overexpression of E6 and E7 open reading frames in cervical carcinoma cells and in cell lines derived from them.

Base Sequence↗

Control elements situated downstream of the major transcriptional start site are sufficient for highly efficient polyomavirus late transcription.

In a transient expression assay in mouse fibroblasts in which neither replication nor T-antigen synthesis occurred, the polyomavirus late promoter functioned faithfully and even more efficiently than the simian virus 40 early promoter. Surprisingly, the DNA sequences upstream of the main transcriptional start sites were not required to obtain the high mRNA level observed. It appeared to result from the combined action of a basal promoter element within the A enhancer domain and of a more downstream element, located in the VP3 intron and abutting the late splice donor. We also show that although an enhancer region was required, enhancer function per se was not. Instead, it appeared that only a defined subset of the DNA-protein interactions necessary for enhancer function was involved in late promoter activity.

Animals↗

The rat albumin promoter is composed of six distinct positive elements within 130 nucleotides.

No fewer than six different positive regulatory elements concentrated within 130 base pairs constitute the rat albumin promoter, which drives highly tissue specific transcription in rat hepatoma cells in culture. Inactivation of each element led to a decrease in transcriptional efficiency: from upstream to downstream, 3- to 4-fold for distal elements III and II, 15-fold for distal element I, and 50-fold for the CCAAT box and the proximal element (PE). Three of these elements, distal elements III and II and, more crucially, the PE, were found to be involved in the tissue-specific character of transcription, with an additional negative regulation possibly superimposed at the level of the PE. Finally, our mapping of these regulatory elements in vivo entirely coincided with footprint data obtained in vitro, thereby allowing the tentative assignment of specific factors to the effects observed in vivo.

Albumins↗

The rat albumin promoter: cooperation with upstream elements is required when binding of APF/HNF1 to the proximal element is partially impaired by mutation or bacterial methylation.

We have characterized in the accompanying paper (P. Herbomel, A. Rollier, F. Tronche, M.-O. Ott, M. Yaniv, and M. C. Weiss, Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:4750-4758, 1989) six different elements in the albumin promoter. One of them, the proximal element (PE), is the binding site for a strictly liver specific factor, APF/HNF1. This binding site contains a bacterial DAM DNA methylase methylation target sequence which, when methylated, decreases the affinity of the protein for this element. When the different albumin promoter constructions were prepared in an Escherichia coli deoxyadenosine methylase-negative strain, the respective contributions of the elements to the overall promoter activity were strikingly different. An intact proximal element plus the TATA box gave almost full transcriptional activity in transient transfection experiments and only in differentiated hepatoma cells of line H4II, whereas the distal elements (distal element III [DEIII], the NF1-binding site DEII, and the E/CBP-binding site DEI) had become essentially dispensable. Mutations affecting the CCAAT box showed only a two- to threefold decrease. When PE was methylated, mutated, or replaced by the homologous element from the alpha-fetoprotein gene, activity in the context of the short promoter (PE plus the TATA box) was abolished. However, activity was restored in the presence of the upstream elements, showing that cooperation with factors binding to the CCAAT box and distal elements favors the functional interaction of the liver-specific APF/HNF1 factor with lower-affinity binding sites.

Albumins↗

Stimulation of protein kinase C or protein kinase A mediated signal transduction pathways shows three modes of response among serum inducible genes.

Activation of the signal transduction pathways mediated by protein kinase A (PKA) or protein kinase C (PKC) led to different responses of several serum inducible genes including the jun gene family, c-fos, c-myc, krox 20 and krox 24. Whereas all of these genes were stimulated by the phorbol ester TPA, a chemical activator of protein kinase C, they were differently regulated upon cAMP stimulation of the PKA dependent pathway. The proto-oncogenes jun B, c-fos, and to a lesser extent jun D were stimulated by increasing the intracellular concentration of cAMP, whereas the TPA stimulation of c-jun and c-myc was inhibited under these conditions. Krox 20 and krox 24 were insensitive to this second messenger. This study allowed us to classify these growth stimulated genes into three distinct groups distinguished by their sensitivity to elevated concentrations of intracellular cAMP. The inhibition of c-jun and c-myc expression in the presence of increased cAMP levels may be at least partially responsible for the growth inhibitory effect of this agent in Balb/c-3T3 cells.

Animals↗

Jun DNA-binding is modulated by mutations between the leucines or by direct interaction of fos with the TGACTCA sequence.

Mutations between the leucines of the "leucine zipper" domain of Jun D can either decrease (Asn 301 to Ala) or increase (Thr 307, Ala 308, to Glu, Val) homodimer formation and specific binding to DNA even though such changes do not modify the predicted alpha-helical structure of this region. As shown previously, addition of Fos strongly increases the affinity of Jun for DNA by forming a heterodimer. The jun down mutation (Asn 301 to Ala) also diminishes DNA binding by the Fos-Jun D heterodimer. These data strongly support the coiled coil conformation of this region where residues adjacent to the leucines are also important for dimer formation. Ultraviolet cross-linking experiments have shown that both Fos and Jun directly contact the TGACTCA palindromic sequence defined as a TPA (12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate) response element or TRE. Both Jun homodimers and Jun-Fos heterodimers bind this TRE as well as the cAMP responsive element (CRE or TGACGTCA) with comparable affinities. While strong c-Jun or Jun D binding requires a perfect palindrome, Jun-Fos complexes can also efficiently recognize sequences where the right half of the palindrome is less conserved (TGACTAA or TGACGCA).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A dimer of BPV-1 E2 containing a protease resistant core interacts with its DNA target.

The E2 proteins encoded by papillomaviruses interact with the viral DNA to regulate its transcription. In the present study, we have constructed bacterial vectors expressing the full-length or N-terminal truncated BPV-1 E2 proteins under the control of an inducible promoter. By UV cross-linking experiments we show that a dimer of the intact or truncated E2 protein interacts with a single palindromic site ACCGNNNNCGGT. The DNA-binding domain of E2 can be reduced to a small protease resistant core. Methylation interference studies show that this C-terminal domain interacts with the major groove of the DNA by contacting two consecutive guanine residues in both halves of the palindrome. Although one binding site is sufficient for high affinity binding in vitro or in vivo, two E2 binding sites are required for transcriptional activation in eukaryotic cells.

Binding Sites↗

Transcriptional activation of c-jun during the G0/G1 transition in mouse fibroblasts.

Before quiescent cells can respond to mitogens and progress through the G1 phase of cell growth, new messenger RNA synthesis is required. The G1 phase seems to be a critical point of control in the cell cycle, where normal cells deprived of growth factors halt cycling while transformed cells do not, suggesting that regulatory genes, uncontrolled in the neoplastic phenotype, are expressed during the G0 to G1 transition. Some of these may code for nuclear proteins that participate in the transactivation of genes required for the progression through G1. The observed changes in expression of the proto-oncogenes c-fos and c-myc, following stimulation of fibroblasts with growth factors, support this notion as recent evidence suggests that c-FOS and c-MYC proteins can function as transactivating factors. Moreover, the rapid induction of several genes in fibroblasts coding for putative transacting factors during the G0 to G1 transition has been recently reported. Here we present the nucleotide sequence of a mouse cDNA clone coding for a 334 residue protein which shows 80% similarity with v-JUN and more than 98% similarity with the human c-JUN sequence. We have demonstrated that in quiescent fibroblasts c-jun transcription is rapidly induced during the G0 to G1 transition.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structural and mutational analysis of E2 trans-activating proteins of papillomaviruses reveals three distinct functional domains.

The E2 proteins of papillomaviruses are able to transactivate the viral enhancers by interacting with the sequence ACCGN4CGGT found in all papillomavirus long control regions. Analysis of the alignment of the amino acid sequences of 10 E2 proteins reveals three distinct regions: two partially conserved domains at the N and C termini of the proteins and a region variable in size and sequence in the middle. A computer prediction of the secondary structure of the 10 sequences outlines interesting conserved features, including two long amphiphilic alpha helices at the N terminus. To analyse the respective roles of the different segments of these proteins, we constructed a set of in-frame deletion and insertion mutations in the E2 coding sequences of the bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPV1) and cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV). The test of their capacity to trans-activate or repress different viral constructs shows that the C-terminal domain of the E2 proteins is involved exclusively in DNA binding whereas the N-terminal domain is probably required for interaction with other components of the transcriptional machinery. The inner variable domain may confer flexibility to the protein such that it will facilitate contacts of the two others with their respective targets.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Constitutive synthesis of activator protein 1 transcription factor after viral transformation of mouse fibroblasts.

Transcription factor activator protein 1 (AP1) interacts with the promoter region of a number of genes that are stimulated by growth factors present in serum or by agents such as phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) that partially mimic their action. To investigate the possible role of AP1 in the control of cellular growth and in transformation of mammalian cells, we monitored its activity by binding to a specific DNA probe in normal or transformed mouse NIH 3T3 cells. A 3- to 4-fold increase in the DNA-binding activity was found after serum stimulation of quiescent NIH 3T3 cells. A 2- to 3-fold activation was found after treatment with PMA or dibutyryl-cAMP, suggesting that different signal-transducing pathways could activate AP1 factor in these cells. PMA stimulation was dependent on new protein synthesis. In contrast to normal cells, a high serum-independent AP1 DNA-binding activity was found in NIH 3T3 cells transformed by simian virus 40. These results suggest that constitutive AP1 synthesis may be a crucial step in cellular transformation.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Activation of the polyomavirus enhancer by a murine activator protein 1 (AP1) homolog and two contiguous proteins.

The polyomavirus enhancer is composed of multiple DNA sequence elements serving as binding sites for proteins present in mouse nuclear extracts that activate transcription and DNA replication. We have identified three such proteins and their binding sites and correlate them with enhancer function. Mutation of nucleotide (nt) 5140 in the enhancer alters the binding site (TGACTAA, nt 5139-5145) for polyomavirus enhancer A binding protein 1 (PEA1), a murine homolog of the human transcription factor activator protein 1 (AP1). This mutation simultaneously reduces polyomavirus transcription and DNA replication. Reversion of this mutation simultaneously restores binding of PEA1 and both DNA replication and transcription. Binding of a second protein, PEA2, adjacent to the PEA1 site at nt 5147-5155 is enhanced by PEA1 binding, suggesting that these proteins interact. A third protein, PEA3, binds to the sequence AGGAAG (nt 5133-5138) adjacent to the PEA1 binding site; integrity of this late-proximal PEA3 binding site or an additional early-proximal site (nt 5228-5233) is important for enhancer function. We correlate binding of PEA1 and PEA2 with the induction of a DNase I-hypersensitive site in polyomavirus minichromosomes isolated from mouse fibroblasts.

Animals↗