Open AccessMediators of activation of fushi tarazu gene transcription by BmFTZ-F1.
Author(s) -
Feng Qian Li,
Hitoshi Ueda,
Susumu Hirose
Publication year - 1994
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.14.5.3013
Subject(s) - biology , transactivation , transcription (linguistics) , transcription factor , microbiology and biotechnology , activator (genetics) , dna binding protein , dna , tata box binding protein , genetics , promoter , gene , gene expression , linguistics , philosophy
Transcriptional activation by many eukaryotic sequence-specific regulators appears to be mediated through transcription factors which do not directly bind to DNA. BmFTZ-F1 is a silkworm counterpart of FTZ-F1, a sequence-specific activator of the fushi tarazu gene in Drosophila melanogaster. We report here the isolation of 18- and 22-kDa polypeptides termed MBF1 and MBF2, respectively, that form a heterodimer and mediate activation of in vitro transcription from the fushi tarazu promoter by BmFTZ-F1. Neither MBF1, MBF2, nor a combination of them binds to DNA. MBF1 interacts with BmFTZ-F1 and stabilizes the BmFTZ-F1-DNA complex. MBF1 also makes direct contact with TATA-binding protein (TBP). Both MBF1 and MBF2 are necessary to form a complex between BmFTZ-F1 and TBP. We propose a model in which MBF1 and MBF2 form a bridge between BmFTZ-F1 and TBP and mediate transactivation by stabilizing the protein-DNA interactions.