Appearance of Nuclear Protease Activity after Embryonal Carcinoma Cells Undergo Differentiation

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP)-5 is a secreted protein that binds to IGFs and modulates IGF actions. IGFBP-5 is also found in the nuclei of cultured cells and has transactivation activity.Here we report the nuclear localization of endogenous IGFBP-5 in mouse embryonic skeletal cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that IGFBP-5 interacts with the nuclear histone-DNA complex. Using a series of deletion mutants, the transactivation domain of IGFBP-5 was mapped to its N-terminal region. Intriguingly, the transactivation activity of IGFBP-5 is masked by negative regulatory elements located in the L-and C-domains. Among the other IGFBPs, the N-domains of IGFBP-2 and -3 also had strong transactivation activity, whereas those of IGFBP-1 and -6 had no activity. The IGFBP-4 N-domain had modest activity. Sequence analysis revealed several amino acids in the IGFBP-5 N-domain that are not present in IGFBP-1. The activities of mutants in which these residues were changed to the corresponding IGFBP-1 sequence were determined. Mutations that changed acidic residues to neutral residues (e.g. E8A, D11S, E12A, E30S/P31A, E43L, and E52A) or a polar to a basic residue (e.g. Q56R) significantly reduced transactivation activity. The E8A/D11S/E12A triple mutant and E52A/Q56R double mutants showed further reduced activity. The combinatory mutants had essentially no transactivation activity. Taken together, our results indicate that there are several conserved residues in the IGFBP-5 N-terminal region that are critical for transactivation and that IGFBP-2 and -3 also have strong transactivation activity in their N-domains.The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 2 system, consisting of two ligands (IGF-I and -II), two receptors (the IGF-I receptor and IGF-II receptor), and six high affinity IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), converges on a conserved signaling pathway that plays fundamental roles in vertebrate development and physiology and is implicated in several human diseases (1). The bioavailability and bioactivity of IGFs are regulated by their interactions with various members of the IGFBP family. IGFBPs all have a highly cysteine-rich N-terminal (N)-domain, a cysteine-rich C-terminal (C)-domain, and a middle linker (L)-domain with no cysteine residues except in IGFBP-4. The N-and C-domains are highly conserved within the IGFBP family, whereas the L-domain varies both within the family and across species.Besides binding to IGF and modulating its actions, IGFBP-5 has been reported to regulate cell proliferation (2, 3), migration (4 -6), and apoptosis/survival (7-11) independent of IGF. Although the ligand-dependent actions of IGFBP-5 are attributed to its interactions with the IGF ligand and other proteins (1), the mechanistic basis of the ligand-independent actions of IGFBP-5 is not yet understood.Andress et al. (12) used IGFBP-5 affinity chromatography to purify a 420-kDa membrane protein from human osteoblast cells and proposed that it was an IGFBP-5 receptor. The same study reported that IGFBP-5 ...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Several Acidic Amino Acids in the N-domain of Insulin-like Growth Factor-binding Protein-5 Are Important for Its Transactivation Activity

Zhao

Yin

Bach

et al. 2006

“…Nuclear extracts were prepared using the NE-PER kit (Pierce) following the manufacturer's protocol. The isolated nuclei from ϳ6 -7 ϫ 10 6 cells were lysed in 100 l of nuclear extraction reagent supplemented with various protease and phosphatase inhibitors (22). When preparing Sox-11F, Sox-11F⌬TAD, and Sox-11F⌬AR⌬TAD for the nuclear extracts used in the electrophoretic gel mobility shift assay (EMSA) shown in Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Novel Domains within Sox-2 and Sox-11 Involved in Autoinhibition of DNA Binding and Partnership Specificity

Wiebe

Nowling

Rizzino

2003

Self Cite

Sox transcription factors play key regulatory roles throughout development, binding DNA through a consensus (A/T)(A/T)CAA(A/T)G sequence. Although many different Sox proteins bind to this sequence, it has been observed that gene regulatory elements are commonly responsive to only a small subset of the entire family, implying that regulatory mechanisms exist to permit selective DNA binding and/or transactivation by Sox family members. To identify and explore the mechanisms modulating gene activation by Sox proteins further, we compared the function of Sox-2 and Sox-11. This led to the discovery that Sox proteins are regulated differentially at multiple levels, including transactivation, protein partnerships with Pit-Oct-Unc (POU) transcription factors, and DNA binding autoregulation. Specifically, we determined that Sox-11 activates transcription more strongly than Sox-2 and that the transactivation domain of Sox-11 is primarily responsible for this capability. Additionally, we demonstrate that the Sox-11 DNA binding domain is responsible for selective cooperation with the POU factor Brn-2. This requirement cannot be replaced by the DNA binding domain of Sox-2, indicating that the DNA binding domain of Sox proteins is critical for Sox-POU partnerships. Interestingly, we have also determined that a conserved domain of Sox-11 has the novel capability of autoinhibiting its ability to bind DNA in vitro and to activate gene expression in vivo. Our findings suggest that the autoinhibitory domain can repress promiscuous binding of Sox-11 to DNA and plays an important role in regulating the recruitment of Sox-11 to specific genes.

“…HeLa cells were seeded at 5 ϫ 10 5 cells per 100-mm dish unless otherwise noted for 24 h prior to transfection. Cells were transfected by the calcium phosphate precipitation method, as described previously (11,32), incubated with the precipitate for 14 -16 h and refed with Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Cells were harvested the following day.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the Transactivation Domain of the Transcription Factor Sox-2 and an Associated Co-activator

Nowling¹,

Johnson²,

Wiebe³

et al. 2000

Self Cite

107

The importance of interactions between Sox and POU transcription factors in the regulation of gene expression is becoming increasingly apparent. Recently, many examples of the involvement of Sox-POU partnerships in transcription have been discovered, including a partnership between Sox-2 and Oct-3. Little is known about the mechanisms by which these factors modulate transcription. To better understand the molecular interactions involved, we mapped the location of the transactivation domain of Sox-2. This was done in the context of its interaction with Oct-3, as well as its ability to transactivate as a fusion protein linked to the DNA-binding domain of Gal4. Both approaches demonstrated that Sox-2 contains a transactivation domain in its C-terminal half, containing a serine-rich region and the C terminus. We also determined that the viral oncoprotein E1a inhibits the ability of the Gal4/Sox-2 fusion protein to transactivate, as well as the transcriptional activation mediated by the combined action of Sox-2 and Oct-3. In contrast, a mutant form of E1a, unable to bind p300, lacks both of these effects. Importantly, we determined that p300 overcomes the inhibitory effects of E1a in both assays. Together, these findings suggest that Sox-2 mediates its effects, at least in part, through the co-activator p300.