Open AccessLyF-1, a transcriptional regulator that interacts with a novel class of promoters for lymphocyte-specific genes.
Author(s) -
K Lo,
Nathaniel R. Landau,
Stephen Smale
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
molecular and cellular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.14
H-Index - 327
eISSN - 1067-8824
pISSN - 0270-7306
DOI - 10.1128/mcb.11.10.5229
Subject(s) - biology , enhancer , promoter , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , transcription (linguistics) , activator (genetics) , transcriptional regulation , dna binding protein , consensus sequence , transcription factor , regulatory sequence , gene expression , genetics , peptide sequence , linguistics , philosophy
We have studied transcriptional control of the murine terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT) gene, which is activated specifically in immature B and T lymphocytes. This analysis has led to the identification and purification of a 50-kDa sequence-specific DNA-binding protein, LyF-1, that interacts with the approximate consensus sequence PyPyTGGGAGPu and is enriched in cells at most stages of B- and T-cell differentiation. LyF-1 binds tightly to an element in the TdT promoter that we show is required for transcription in lymphocytes. LyF-1 also interacts with an element in the immunoglobulin mu enhancer, called microB, that was recently shown to be important for lymphocyte-specific enhancer activity. Moreover, LyF-1 binds to the promoters for the lymphocyte-specific genes lambda 5, VpreB, and lck, all of which we speculate have additional features in common with the TdT promoter. Thus, LyF-1 may be a general transcriptional activator for genes whose expression is restricted to the B- and/or T-lymphocyte lineages.