Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1989 Dec;9(12):5315–5323. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.12.5315

Transcription factor MBF-I interacts with metal regulatory elements of higher eucaryotic metallothionein genes.

J Imbert 1, M Zafarullah 1, V C Culotta 1, L Gedamu 1, D Hamer 1
PMCID: PMC363696  PMID: 2586522

Abstract

Metallothionein (MT) gene promoters in higher eucaryotes contain multiple metal regulatory elements (MREs) that are responsible for the metal induction of MT gene transcription. We identified and purified to near homogeneity a 74-kilodalton mouse nuclear protein that specifically binds to certain MRE sequences. This protein, MBF-I, was purified employing as an affinity reagent a trout MRE that is shown to be functional in mouse cells but which lacks the G+C-rich and SP1-like sequences found in many mammalian MT gene promoters. Using point-mutated MREs, we showed that there is a strong correlation between DNA binding in vitro and MT gene regulation in vivo, suggesting a direct role of MBF-I in MT gene transcription. We also showed that MBF-I can induce MT gene transcription in vitro in a mouse extract and that this stimulation requires zinc.

Full text

PDF
5319

Images in this article

5316Image
on p.5316
5318Image
on p.5318
5320Image
on p.5320
5321Image
on p.5321
5322Image
on p.5322

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersen R. D., Taplitz S. J., Wong S., Bristol G., Larkin B., Herschman H. R. Metal-dependent binding of a factor in vivo to the metal-responsive elements of the metallothionein 1 gene promoter. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Oct;7(10):3574–3581. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.10.3574. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Angel P., Imagawa M., Chiu R., Stein B., Imbra R. J., Rahmsdorf H. J., Jonat C., Herrlich P., Karin M. Phorbol ester-inducible genes contain a common cis element recognized by a TPA-modulated trans-acting factor. Cell. 1987 Jun 19;49(6):729–739. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90611-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Briggs M. R., Kadonaga J. T., Bell S. P., Tjian R. Purification and biochemical characterization of the promoter-specific transcription factor, Sp1. Science. 1986 Oct 3;234(4772):47–52. doi: 10.1126/science.3529394. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Carter A. D., Felber B. K., Walling M. J., Jubier M. F., Schmidt C. J., Hamer D. H. Duplicated heavy metal control sequences of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(23):7392–7396. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7392. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Carthew R. W., Chodosh L. A., Sharp P. A. The major late transcription factor binds to and activates the mouse metallothionein I promoter. Genes Dev. 1987 Nov;1(9):973–980. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.9.973. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dignam J. D., Lebovitz R. M., Roeder R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Mar 11;11(5):1475–1489. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.5.1475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Friedman R. L., Stark G. R. alpha-Interferon-induced transcription of HLA and metallothionein genes containing homologous upstream sequences. Nature. 1985 Apr 18;314(6012):637–639. doi: 10.1038/314637a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fürst P., Hu S., Hackett R., Hamer D. Copper activates metallothionein gene transcription by altering the conformation of a specific DNA binding protein. Cell. 1988 Nov 18;55(4):705–717. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90229-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hamer D. H. Metallothionein. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:913–951. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.55.070186.004405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Imagawa M., Chiu R., Karin M. Transcription factor AP-2 mediates induction by two different signal-transduction pathways: protein kinase C and cAMP. Cell. 1987 Oct 23;51(2):251–260. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90152-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jones N. C., Rigby P. W., Ziff E. B. Trans-acting protein factors and the regulation of eukaryotic transcription: lessons from studies on DNA tumor viruses. Genes Dev. 1988 Mar;2(3):267–281. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.3.267. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Karin M., Haslinger A., Heguy A., Dietlin T., Cooke T. Metal-responsive elements act as positive modulators of human metallothionein-IIA enhancer activity. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Feb;7(2):606–613. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.2.606. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Karin M., Haslinger A., Holtgreve H., Cathala G., Slater E., Baxter J. D. Activation of a heterologous promoter in response to dexamethasone and cadmium by metallothionein gene 5'-flanking DNA. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):371–379. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90230-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Karin M., Haslinger A., Holtgreve H., Richards R. I., Krauter P., Westphal H. M., Beato M. Characterization of DNA sequences through which cadmium and glucocorticoid hormones induce human metallothionein-IIA gene. Nature. 1984 Apr 5;308(5959):513–519. doi: 10.1038/308513a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. LeBowitz J. H., Kobayashi T., Staudt L., Baltimore D., Sharp P. A. Octamer-binding proteins from B or HeLa cells stimulate transcription of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain promoter in vitro. Genes Dev. 1988 Oct;2(10):1227–1237. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.10.1227. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lee W., Haslinger A., Karin M., Tjian R. Activation of transcription by two factors that bind promoter and enhancer sequences of the human metallothionein gene and SV40. Nature. 1987 Jan 22;325(6102):368–372. doi: 10.1038/325368a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lee W., Mitchell P., Tjian R. Purified transcription factor AP-1 interacts with TPA-inducible enhancer elements. Cell. 1987 Jun 19;49(6):741–752. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90612-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Mermod N., Williams T. J., Tjian R. Enhancer binding factors AP-4 and AP-1 act in concert to activate SV40 late transcription in vitro. Nature. 1988 Apr 7;332(6164):557–561. doi: 10.1038/332557a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Mitchell P. J., Wang C., Tjian R. Positive and negative regulation of transcription in vitro: enhancer-binding protein AP-2 is inhibited by SV40 T antigen. Cell. 1987 Sep 11;50(6):847–861. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90512-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mueller P. R., Salser S. J., Wold B. Constitutive and metal-inducible protein:DNA interactions at the mouse metallothionein I promoter examined by in vivo and in vitro footprinting. Genes Dev. 1988 Apr;2(4):412–427. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.4.412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Palmiter R. D. Molecular biology of metallothionein gene expression. Experientia Suppl. 1987;52:63–80. doi: 10.1007/978-3-0348-6784-9_4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Parker C. S., Topol J. A Drosophila RNA polymerase II transcription factor contains a promoter-region-specific DNA-binding activity. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):357–369. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90229-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Pavlakis G. N., Hamer D. H. Regulation of a metallothionein-growth hormone hybrid gene in bovine papilloma virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jan;80(2):397–401. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.2.397. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Richards R. I., Heguy A., Karin M. Structural and functional analysis of the human metallothionein-IA gene: differential induction by metal ions and glucocorticoids. Cell. 1984 May;37(1):263–272. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90322-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Safer B., Cohen R. B., Garfinkel S., Thompson J. A. DNA affinity labeling of adenovirus type 2 upstream promoter sequence-binding factors identifies two distinct proteins. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Jan;8(1):105–113. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.1.105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Searle P. F., Stuart G. W., Palmiter R. D. Metal regulatory elements of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. Experientia Suppl. 1987;52:407–414. doi: 10.1007/978-3-0348-6784-9_39. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Seguin C., Hamer D. H. Regulation in vitro of metallothionein gene binding factors. Science. 1987 Mar 13;235(4794):1383–1387. doi: 10.1126/science.3103216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Stuart G. W., Searle P. F., Chen H. Y., Brinster R. L., Palmiter R. D. A 12-base-pair DNA motif that is repeated several times in metallothionein gene promoters confers metal regulation to a heterologous gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(23):7318–7322. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7318. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Stuart G. W., Searle P. F., Palmiter R. D. Identification of multiple metal regulatory elements in mouse metallothionein-I promoter by assaying synthetic sequences. 1985 Oct 31-Nov 6Nature. 317(6040):828–831. doi: 10.1038/317828a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Séguin C., Felber B. K., Carter A. D., Hamer D. H. Competition for cellular factors that activate metallothionein gene transcription. Nature. 1984 Dec 20;312(5996):781–785. doi: 10.1038/312781a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Séguin C., Prévost J. Detection of a nuclear protein that interacts with a metal regulatory element of the mouse metallothionein 1 gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Nov 25;16(22):10547–10560. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.22.10547. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Vandeyar M. A., Weiner M. P., Hutton C. J., Batt C. A. A simple and rapid method for the selection of oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutants. Gene. 1988 May 15;65(1):129–133. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90425-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Westin G., Schaffner W. A zinc-responsive factor interacts with a metal-regulated enhancer element (MRE) of the mouse metallothionein-I gene. EMBO J. 1988 Dec 1;7(12):3763–3770. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03260.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Wu C., Wilson S., Walker B., Dawid I., Paisley T., Zimarino V., Ueda H. Purification and properties of Drosophila heat shock activator protein. Science. 1987 Nov 27;238(4831):1247–1253. doi: 10.1126/science.3685975. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Zafarullah M., Bonham K., Gedamu L. Structure of the rainbow trout metallothionein B gene and characterization of its metal-responsive region. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Oct;8(10):4469–4476. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.10.4469. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES