Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1991 May 15;88(10):4323–4327. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.10.4323

Sequence-specific DNA binding by Myc proteins.

E Kerkhoff 1, K Bister 1, K H Klempnauer 1
PMCID: PMC51651  PMID: 1827916

Abstract

Myc proteins have a tripartite carboxyl-terminal domain containing specific amino acid sequence motifs: a basic motif, a helix-loop-helix motif, and a leucine heptad repeat. Similar sequence motifs have been identified in several eukaryotic transcription factors and were shown to facilitate protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. By using recombinant v-Myc proteins obtained by bacterial expression of full-length or partially deleted avian v-myc alleles, the functional relevance of these sequence motifs for Myc protein oligomerization and for DNA binding was investigated. All recombinant v-Myc proteins that have retained the carboxyl-terminal domain dimerize and specifically bind to double-stranded DNA containing the palindromic core sequence CACGTG. This and a closely related DNA sequence element have been defined previously as part of the binding sites for human transcription factors USF and TFE3, which specifically bind to the adenovirus major late promoter or the muE3 motif within the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer, respectively. It is shown that a 61-amino-acid peptide sequence containing only the bipartite basic motif/helix-loop-helix domain of Myc is necessary and sufficient for dimerization and sequence-specific DNA binding of v-Myc recombinant proteins.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

4324Image
on p.4324
4324Image
on p.4324
4325Image
on p.4325
4325Image
on p.4325
4325Image
on p.4325
4325Image
on p.4325
4325Image
on p.4325
4326Image
on p.4326

Selected References

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

  1. Bader J. P., Ray D. A. MC29 virus-coded protein occurs as monomers and dimers in transformed cells. J Virol. 1985 Feb;53(2):509–514. doi: 10.1128/jvi.53.2.509-514.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beckmann H., Su L. K., Kadesch T. TFE3: a helix-loop-helix protein that activates transcription through the immunoglobulin enhancer muE3 motif. Genes Dev. 1990 Feb;4(2):167–179. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.2.167. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Biedenkapp H., Borgmeyer U., Sippel A. E., Klempnauer K. H. Viral myb oncogene encodes a sequence-specific DNA-binding activity. Nature. 1988 Oct 27;335(6193):835–837. doi: 10.1038/335835a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bister K., Hayman M. J., Vogt P. K. Defectiveness of avian myelocytomatosis virus MC29: isolation of long-term nonproducer cultures and analysis of virus-specific polypeptide synthesis. Virology. 1977 Oct 15;82(2):431–448. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(77)90017-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bister K., Jansen H. W. Oncogenes in retroviruses and cells: biochemistry and molecular genetics. Adv Cancer Res. 1986;47:99–188. doi: 10.1016/s0065-230x(08)60199-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bister K., Trachmann C., Jansen H. W., Schroeer B., Patschinsky T. Structure of mutant and wild-type MC29 v-myc alleles and biochemical properties of their protein products. Oncogene. 1987 May;1(2):97–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Blackwell T. K., Kretzner L., Blackwood E. M., Eisenman R. N., Weintraub H. Sequence-specific DNA binding by the c-Myc protein. Science. 1990 Nov 23;250(4984):1149–1151. doi: 10.1126/science.2251503. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Church G. M., Ephrussi A., Gilbert W., Tonegawa S. Cell-type-specific contacts to immunoglobulin enhancers in nuclei. 1985 Feb 28-Mar 6Nature. 313(6005):798–801. doi: 10.1038/313798a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dang C. V., McGuire M., Buckmire M., Lee W. M. Involvement of the 'leucine zipper' region in the oligomerization and transforming activity of human c-myc protein. Nature. 1989 Feb 16;337(6208):664–666. doi: 10.1038/337664a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Davis R. L., Cheng P. F., Lassar A. B., Weintraub H. The MyoD DNA binding domain contains a recognition code for muscle-specific gene activation. Cell. 1990 Mar 9;60(5):733–746. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90088-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Davis R. L., Weintraub H., Lassar A. B. Expression of a single transfected cDNA converts fibroblasts to myoblasts. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):987–1000. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90585-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Duesberg P. H., Bister K., Vogt P. K. The RNA of avian acute leukemia virus MC29. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct;74(10):4320–4324. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4320. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Dwarki V. J., Montminy M., Verma I. M. Both the basic region and the 'leucine zipper' domain of the cyclic AMP response element binding (CREB) protein are essential for transcriptional activation. EMBO J. 1990 Jan;9(1):225–232. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08099.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gonzalez G. A., Yamamoto K. K., Fischer W. H., Karr D., Menzel P., Biggs W., 3rd, Vale W. W., Montminy M. R. A cluster of phosphorylation sites on the cyclic AMP-regulated nuclear factor CREB predicted by its sequence. Nature. 1989 Feb 23;337(6209):749–752. doi: 10.1038/337749a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gregor P. D., Sawadogo M., Roeder R. G. The adenovirus major late transcription factor USF is a member of the helix-loop-helix group of regulatory proteins and binds to DNA as a dimer. Genes Dev. 1990 Oct;4(10):1730–1740. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.10.1730. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hartings H., Maddaloni M., Lazzaroni N., Di Fonzo N., Motto M., Salamini F., Thompson R. The O2 gene which regulates zein deposition in maize endosperm encodes a protein with structural homologies to transcriptional activators. EMBO J. 1989 Oct;8(10):2795–2801. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08425.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hinnebusch A. G. Evidence for translational regulation of the activator of general amino acid control in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Oct;81(20):6442–6446. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.20.6442. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hope I. A., Struhl K. GCN4, a eukaryotic transcriptional activator protein, binds as a dimer to target DNA. EMBO J. 1987 Sep;6(9):2781–2784. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02573.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Howe K. M., Reakes C. F., Watson R. J. Characterization of the sequence-specific interaction of mouse c-myb protein with DNA. EMBO J. 1990 Jan;9(1):161–169. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08092.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kerkhoff E., Bister K. Myc protein structure: localization of DNA-binding and protein dimerization domains. Oncogene. 1991 Jan;6(1):93–102. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Kouzarides T., Ziff E. Leucine zippers of fos, jun and GCN4 dictate dimerization specificity and thereby control DNA binding. Nature. 1989 Aug 17;340(6234):568–571. doi: 10.1038/340568a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Landschulz W. H., Johnson P. F., Adashi E. Y., Graves B. J., McKnight S. L. Isolation of a recombinant copy of the gene encoding C/EBP. Genes Dev. 1988 Jul;2(7):786–800. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.7.786. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Landschulz W. H., Johnson P. F., McKnight S. L. The leucine zipper: a hypothetical structure common to a new class of DNA binding proteins. Science. 1988 Jun 24;240(4860):1759–1764. doi: 10.1126/science.3289117. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lassar A. B., Buskin J. N., Lockshon D., Davis R. L., Apone S., Hauschka S. D., Weintraub H. MyoD is a sequence-specific DNA binding protein requiring a region of myc homology to bind to the muscle creatine kinase enhancer. Cell. 1989 Sep 8;58(5):823–831. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90935-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Moss L. G., Moss J. B., Rutter W. J. Systematic binding analysis of the insulin gene transcription control region: insulin and immunoglobulin enhancers utilize similar transactivators. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Jun;8(6):2620–2627. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.6.2620. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Murre C., McCaw P. S., Baltimore D. A new DNA binding and dimerization motif in immunoglobulin enhancer binding, daughterless, MyoD, and myc proteins. Cell. 1989 Mar 10;56(5):777–783. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90682-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Murre C., McCaw P. S., Vaessin H., Caudy M., Jan L. Y., Jan Y. N., Cabrera C. V., Buskin J. N., Hauschka S. D., Lassar A. B. Interactions between heterologous helix-loop-helix proteins generate complexes that bind specifically to a common DNA sequence. Cell. 1989 Aug 11;58(3):537–544. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90434-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Nishimura T., Vogt P. K. The avian cellular homolog of the oncogene jun. Oncogene. 1988 Dec;3(6):659–663. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Oehler T., Arnold H., Biedenkapp H., Klempnauer K. H. Characterization of the v-myb DNA binding domain. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Apr 11;18(7):1703–1710. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.7.1703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Patschinsky T., Walter G., Bister K. Immunological analysis of v-myc gene products using antibodies against a myc-specific synthetic peptide. Virology. 1984 Jul 30;136(2):348–358. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(84)90171-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Prendergast G. C., Ziff E. B. DNA-binding motif. Nature. 1989 Oct 5;341(6241):392–392. doi: 10.1038/341392a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Prendergast G. C., Ziff E. B. Methylation-sensitive sequence-specific DNA binding by the c-Myc basic region. Science. 1991 Jan 11;251(4990):186–189. doi: 10.1126/science.1987636. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Ransone L. J., Visvader J., Wamsley P., Verma I. M. Trans-dominant negative mutants of Fos and Jun. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 May;87(10):3806–3810. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.10.3806. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Sawadogo M., Roeder R. G. Interaction of a gene-specific transcription factor with the adenovirus major late promoter upstream of the TATA box region. Cell. 1985 Nov;43(1):165–175. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90021-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Sawadogo M., Van Dyke M. W., Gregor P. D., Roeder R. G. Multiple forms of the human gene-specific transcription factor USF. I. Complete purification and identification of USF from HeLa cell nuclei. J Biol Chem. 1988 Aug 25;263(24):11985–11993. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Studier F. W., Rosenberg A. H., Dunn J. J., Dubendorff J. W. Use of T7 RNA polymerase to direct expression of cloned genes. Methods Enzymol. 1990;185:60–89. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(90)85008-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Van Beveren C., van Straaten F., Curran T., Müller R., Verma I. M. Analysis of FBJ-MuSV provirus and c-fos (mouse) gene reveals that viral and cellular fos gene products have different carboxy termini. Cell. 1983 Apr;32(4):1241–1255. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90306-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Vogt P. K., Bos T. J. The oncogene jun and nuclear signalling. Trends Biochem Sci. 1989 May;14(5):172–175. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(89)90268-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Vogt P. K., Morgan I. The genetics of jun. Semin Cancer Biol. 1990 Feb;1(1):27–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Watson D. K., Reddy E. P., Duesberg P. H., Papas T. S. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the chicken c-myc gene reveals homologous and unique coding regions by comparison with the transforming gene of avian myelocytomatosis virus MC29, delta gag-myc. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(8):2146–2150. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.8.2146. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES