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. 1999 Jun 15;18(12):3431–3441. doi: 10.1093/emboj/18.12.3431

Ptx1 regulates SF-1 activity by an interaction that mimics the role of the ligand-binding domain.

J J Tremblay 1, A Marcil 1, Y Gauthier 1, J Drouin 1
PMCID: PMC1171422  PMID: 10369682

Abstract

Ptx1 (Pitx1) is a bicoid-related homeobox transcription factor expressed from the onset of pituitary development. It was shown to cooperate with cell-restricted factors, such as Pit1, NeuroD1/PanI and steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1), to establish a combinatorial code conferring lineage- and promoter-specific gene transcription in the pituitary. Transcriptional synergism between Ptx1 and SF-1 on two SF-1 target genes, pituitary luteinizing hormone beta and Müllerian-inhibiting substance (MIS), requires SF-1 binding to DNA and appears to result from direct physical interaction between these two proteins. The interaction between the C-terminus of Ptx1 and the N-terminal half of SF-1 results in transcriptional enhancement that equals the activity of a constitutively active SF-1 mutant and that may mimic the effect of a still unidentified SF-1 ligand. Thus, the unmasking of SF-1 activity by Ptx1 may represent a developmental mechanism to alleviate the need for SF-1 ligand in transcription and, possibly, at critical times during organogenesis.

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Selected References

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