Transcription factor NF-E2 is crucial for regulating erythroid-specific gene expression. Cloning of the NF-E2 p45 protein has revealed that it contains a basic region-leucine zipper (b-zip) domain which associates with another unidentified protein (of relative molecular mass 18,000) to form functional NF-E2. We show here that products of the maf proto-oncogene family, MafF, MafG and MafK (the small Maf proteins) which possess a b-zip DNA-binding domain but lack a canonical transactivation domain, directly control the DNA-binding properties of p45 by heterodimeric association with p45. Whereas homodimers of the small Maf proteins act as negative regulators, heterodimers composed of Maf and p45 support active transcription in vivo. These results indicate that one (or all) of the small Maf proteins is the second constituent chain required for NF-E2 activity, and that negative as well as positive regulation can be achieved through an NF-E2 site, depending on the equilibrium concentrations of p45 and the Maf proteins inside erythroid cells.
The v-maf oncogene, identified from AS42 avian retrovirus, encodes a nuclear bZip protein. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of cell transformation induced by this oncogene, we determined the specific binding sequences of its product. Maf protein recognized two types of relatively long palindromic consensus sequences, TGCTGACTCAGCA and TGCTGACGTCAGCA, at roughly equal efficiency. The middle parts of these Maf-binding sequences completely match with two binding sequences for AP-1 transcription factor, i.e., phorbol 12-O-tetradecanoate-13-acetate (TPA)-responsive element (TRE) and cyclic AMP responsive element, suggesting partial overlapping of the target genes for Maf and AP-1. Furthermore, Maf efficiently formed heterodimers with the components of AP-1, Fos and Jun, through their leucine zipper structures, and these heterodimers show binding specificities distinct from those for Maf-Maf and Jun-Jun homodimers. Thus, a multiple combination of the dimers should generate a greatly expanded repertoire of transcriptional regulatory potential. DNA data base search for the Maf-binding consensus sequences suggested that some of the TRE-like cis elements reported previously may actually be the targets for Maf family proteins or their heterodimers with other bZip proteins.
The chicken beta-globin enhancer is critical for the tissue- and developmental stage-specific expression of the beta-globin genes. This enhancer contains two indispensable cis elements, one containing two GATA sites and the other containing an NF-E2 site. To identify the putative transcription factor acting through the NF-E2 motif in the chicken beta-globin enhancer, we screened chicken cDNA libraries with a mouse p45 NF-E2 cDNA probe and isolated cDNA clones which encode a protein of 582 amino acid residues. This protein contains a region that includes the basic region-leucine zipper domain which is well conserved among members of the CNC family proteins (Cap 'n' collar, p45 NF-E2, LCR-F1, Nrf1, and Nrf2). Hence, we named this protein ECH (erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology). ECH is expressed abundantly in cultured erythroid cells undergoing terminal differentiation, peripheral erythrocytes, and some nonhematopoietic tissues. Since most of the cDNA clones obtained from the chicken erythrocyte cDNA library encoded ECH, ECH is likely the predominant CNC family protein present in avian peripheral erythrocytes. Like p45 NF-E2, ECH can heterodimerize with any of the small Maf family proteins and bind the NF-E2 site as a heterodimer in vitro. In a transfection assay, ECH transactivates transcription depending on the presence of NF-E2 sites on the reporter gene plasmid. These results indicate that ECH is likely a key regulator of avian erythropoiesis.
The insulin gene is specifically expressed in -cells of the Langerhans islets of the pancreas, and its transcription is regulated by the circulating glucose level. Previous reports have shown that an unidentified -cell-specific nuclear factor binds to a conserved cis-regulatory element called RIPE3b and is critical for its glucose-
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