Open AccessPax-8, a paired domain-containing protein, binds to a sequence overlapping the recognition site of a homeodomain and activates transcription from two thyroid-specific promoters.
Author(s) -
M Zannini,
Helen Francis-Lang,
Dimitrij Plachov,
Roberto Di Lauro
Publication year - 1992
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.12.9.4230
Subject(s) - promoter , biology , thyroglobulin , thyroid peroxidase , transcription factor , homeobox , thyroid transcription factor 1 , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , genetics , binding site , thyroid , gene expression
The Pax-8 gene, a member of the murine family of paired box-containing genes (Pax genes), is expressed in adult thyroid and in cultured thyroid cell lines. The Pax-8 protein binds, through its paired domain, to the promoters of thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase, genes that are exclusively expressed in the thyroid. In both promoters, the binding site of Pax-8 overlaps with that of TTF-1, a homeodomain-containing protein involved in the activation of thyroid-specific transcription. Pax-8 activates transcription from cotransfected thyroperoxidase and thyroglobulin promoters, indicating that it may be involved in the establishment, control, or maintenance of the thyroid-differentiated phenotype. Thus, the promoters of thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase represent the first identified natural targets for transcriptional activation by a paired domain-containing protein.