Skip to main content
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1990 May;9(5):1625–1634. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08282.x

Transcription factor Oct-2A contains functionally redundant activating domains and works selectively from a promoter but not from a remote enhancer position in non-lymphoid (HeLa) cells.

M M Müller-Immerglück 1, W Schaffner 1, P Matthias 1
PMCID: PMC551858  PMID: 2328728

Abstract

In non-lymphoid cells such as HeLa cells, ectopic expression of the lymphocyte-specific transcription factor Oct-2A can activate reporter genes whose promoters consist of a single octamer sequence (ATTTGCAT) upstream of a TATA box. While the factor is strongly active in a promoter position, it tails as an enhancer factor: an enhancer consisting of multiple copies of the octamer sequence placed downstream of the reporter gene is not active in HeLa cells, even at high concentration of Oct-2A. In B lymphoid cells, however, the same enhancer is highly active. This could mean that an additional factor is required for enhancer activation in B cells. Furthermore, we have tested the transcriptional activation potential of Oct-2A with a series of N-terminal and C-terminal deletions. We show that a glutamine-rich domain near the N-terminus is required for full activity. Otherwise, large segments of the N-terminal half or the entire C-terminal region are dispensable in our assay, as long as the deletions do not impinge on the conserved POU domain which is sufficient for DNA binding. While N-terminal and C-terminal regions can functionally compensate for each other, a combined deletion that only retains the POU domain is a strong down mutation. We also find that activity depends on the promoter structure of the reporter gene: the POU domain by itself shows some activity with a promoter where the octamer sequence is located very close to the TATA box, but no activity with another promoter construction where the octamer sequence is located further upstream. The two promoters also respond differently to the deletion of the glutamine-rich stretch important for transcriptional activation. From these experiments we consider it likely that the natural octamer factor variants can selectively activate the different naturally occurring octamer-containing promoters.

Full text

PDF
1625

Images in this article

Selected References

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

  1. Barberis A., Superti-Furga G., Busslinger M. Mutually exclusive interaction of the CCAAT-binding factor and of a displacement protein with overlapping sequences of a histone gene promoter. Cell. 1987 Jul 31;50(3):347–359. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90489-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barberis A., Superti-Furga G., Busslinger M. The testis-specific octamer-binding protein of the sea urchin has a molecular weight of 85 kDa. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Sep 12;17(17):7114–7114. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.17.7114. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bodner M., Castrillo J. L., Theill L. E., Deerinck T., Ellisman M., Karin M. The pituitary-specific transcription factor GHF-1 is a homeobox-containing protein. Cell. 1988 Nov 4;55(3):505–518. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90037-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bushman F. D., Shang C., Ptashne M. A single glutamic acid residue plays a key role in the transcriptional activation function of lambda repressor. Cell. 1989 Sep 22;58(6):1163–1171. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90514-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bürglin T. R., Finney M., Coulson A., Ruvkun G. Caenorhabditis elegans has scores of homoeobox-containing genes. Nature. 1989 Sep 21;341(6239):239–243. doi: 10.1038/341239a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chodosh L. A., Carthew R. W., Morgan J. G., Crabtree G. R., Sharp P. A. The adenovirus major late transcription factor activates the rat gamma-fibrinogen promoter. Science. 1987 Oct 30;238(4827):684–688. doi: 10.1126/science.3672119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Clerc R. G., Corcoran L. M., LeBowitz J. H., Baltimore D., Sharp P. A. The B-cell-specific Oct-2 protein contains POU box- and homeo box-type domains. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12A):1570–1581. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12a.1570. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Courey A. J., Tjian R. Analysis of Sp1 in vivo reveals multiple transcriptional domains, including a novel glutamine-rich activation motif. Cell. 1988 Dec 2;55(5):887–898. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90144-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cox P. M., Temperley S. M., Kumar H., Goding C. R. A distinct octamer-binding protein present in malignant melanoma cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Dec 9;16(23):11047–11056. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.23.11047. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dreyfus M., Doyen N., Rougeon F. The conserved decanucleotide from the immunoglobulin heavy chain promoter induces a very high transcriptional activity in B-cells when introduced into an heterologous promoter. EMBO J. 1987 Jun;6(6):1685–1690. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02418.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Driever W., Thoma G., Nüsslein-Volhard C. Determination of spatial domains of zygotic gene expression in the Drosophila embryo by the affinity of binding sites for the bicoid morphogen. Nature. 1989 Aug 3;340(6232):363–367. doi: 10.1038/340363a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Eckner R., Birnstiel M. L. Cloning of cDNAs coding for human HMG I and HMG Y proteins: both are capable of binding to the octamer sequence motif. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Aug 11;17(15):5947–5959. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.15.5947. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Falkner F. G., Mocikat R., Zachau H. G. Sequences closely related to an immunoglobulin gene promoter/enhancer element occur also upstream of other eukaryotic and of prokaryotic genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Nov 25;14(22):8819–8827. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.22.8819. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Falkner F. G., Zachau H. G. Correct transcription of an immunoglobulin kappa gene requires an upstream fragment containing conserved sequence elements. Nature. 1984 Jul 5;310(5972):71–74. doi: 10.1038/310071a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Finney M., Ruvkun G., Horvitz H. R. The C. elegans cell lineage and differentiation gene unc-86 encodes a protein with a homeodomain and extended similarity to transcription factors. Cell. 1988 Dec 2;55(5):757–769. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90132-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Fletcher C., Heintz N., Roeder R. G. Purification and characterization of OTF-1, a transcription factor regulating cell cycle expression of a human histone H2b gene. Cell. 1987 Dec 4;51(5):773–781. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90100-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Gehring W. J. Homeo boxes in the study of development. Science. 1987 Jun 5;236(4806):1245–1252. doi: 10.1126/science.2884726. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Gerster T., Matthias P., Thali M., Jiricny J., Schaffner W. Cell type-specificity elements of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene enhancer. EMBO J. 1987 May;6(5):1323–1330. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02371.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Harvey R. P., Robins A. J., Wells J. R. Independently evolving chicken histone H2B genes: identification of a ubiquitous H2B-specific 5' element. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Dec 11;10(23):7851–7863. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.23.7851. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. He X., Treacy M. N., Simmons D. M., Ingraham H. A., Swanson L. W., Rosenfeld M. G. Expression of a large family of POU-domain regulatory genes in mammalian brain development. Nature. 1989 Jul 6;340(6228):35–41. doi: 10.1038/340035a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Herr W., Sturm R. A., Clerc R. G., Corcoran L. M., Baltimore D., Sharp P. A., Ingraham H. A., Rosenfeld M. G., Finney M., Ruvkun G. The POU domain: a large conserved region in the mammalian pit-1, oct-1, oct-2, and Caenorhabditis elegans unc-86 gene products. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12A):1513–1516. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12a.1513. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hollenberg S. M., Giguere V., Segui P., Evans R. M. Colocalization of DNA-binding and transcriptional activation functions in the human glucocorticoid receptor. Cell. 1987 Apr 10;49(1):39–46. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90753-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Ingraham H. A., Chen R. P., Mangalam H. J., Elsholtz H. P., Flynn S. E., Lin C. R., Simmons D. M., Swanson L., Rosenfeld M. G. A tissue-specific transcription factor containing a homeodomain specifies a pituitary phenotype. Cell. 1988 Nov 4;55(3):519–529. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90038-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Junker S., Nielsen V., Matthias P., Picard D. Both immunoglobulin promoter and enhancer sequences are targets for suppression in myeloma-fibroblast hybrid cells. EMBO J. 1988 Oct;7(10):3093–3098. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03175.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Ko H. S., Fast P., McBride W., Staudt L. M. A human protein specific for the immunoglobulin octamer DNA motif contains a functional homeobox domain. Cell. 1988 Oct 7;55(1):135–144. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90016-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kumar V., Chambon P. The estrogen receptor binds tightly to its responsive element as a ligand-induced homodimer. Cell. 1988 Oct 7;55(1):145–156. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90017-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. LaBella F., Sive H. L., Roeder R. G., Heintz N. Cell-cycle regulation of a human histone H2b gene is mediated by the H2b subtype-specific consensus element. Genes Dev. 1988 Jan;2(1):32–39. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.1.32. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. LeBowitz J. H., Clerc R. G., Brenowitz M., Sharp P. A. The Oct-2 protein binds cooperatively to adjacent octamer sites. Genes Dev. 1989 Oct;3(10):1625–1638. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.10.1625. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Lenardo M. J., Staudt L., Robbins P., Kuang A., Mulligan R. C., Baltimore D. Repression of the IgH enhancer in teratocarcinoma cells associated with a novel octamer factor. Science. 1989 Jan 27;243(4890):544–546. doi: 10.1126/science.2536195. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Maeda H., Araki K., Kitamura D., Wang J., Watanabe T. Nuclear factors binding to the human immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene enhancer. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Apr 10;15(7):2851–2869. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.7.2851. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Mangalam H. J., Albert V. R., Ingraham H. A., Kapiloff M., Wilson L., Nelson C., Elsholtz H., Rosenfeld M. G. A pituitary POU domain protein, Pit-1, activates both growth hormone and prolactin promoters transcriptionally. Genes Dev. 1989 Jul;3(7):946–958. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.7.946. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Mason J. O., Williams G. T., Neuberger M. S. Transcription cell type specificity is conferred by an immunoglobulin VH gene promoter that includes a functional consensus sequence. Cell. 1985 Jun;41(2):479–487. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80021-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Mattaj I. W., Lienhard S., Jiricny J., De Robertis E. M. An enhancer-like sequence within the Xenopus U2 gene promoter facilitates the formation of stable transcription complexes. Nature. 1985 Jul 11;316(6024):163–167. doi: 10.1038/316163a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Matthias P., Müller M. M., Schreiber E., Rusconi S., Schaffner W. Eukaryotic expression vectors for the analysis of mutant proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Aug 11;17(15):6418–6418. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.15.6418. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Miesfeld R., Godowski P. J., Maler B. A., Yamamoto K. R. Glucocorticoid receptor mutants that define a small region sufficient for enhancer activation. Science. 1987 Apr 24;236(4800):423–427. doi: 10.1126/science.3563519. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Müller M. M., Ruppert S., Schaffner W., Matthias P. A cloned octamer transcription factor stimulates transcription from lymphoid-specific promoters in non-B cells. Nature. 1988 Dec 8;336(6199):544–551. doi: 10.1038/336544a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Müller M. M., Schreiber E., Schaffner W., Matthias P. Rapid test for in vivo stability and DNA binding of mutated octamer binding proteins with 'mini-extracts' prepared from transfected cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Aug 11;17(15):6420–6420. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.15.6420. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. O'Neill E. A., Kelly T. J. Purification and characterization of nuclear factor III (origin recognition protein C), a sequence-specific DNA binding protein required for efficient initiation of adenovirus DNA replication. J Biol Chem. 1988 Jan 15;263(2):931–937. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Parslow T. G., Blair D. L., Murphy W. J., Granner D. K. Structure of the 5' ends of immunoglobulin genes: a novel conserved sequence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 May;81(9):2650–2654. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.9.2650. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Pruijn G. J., van Driel W., van der Vliet P. C. Nuclear factor III, a novel sequence-specific DNA-binding protein from HeLa cells stimulating adenovirus DNA replication. Nature. 1986 Aug 14;322(6080):656–659. doi: 10.1038/322656a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Ptashne M. How eukaryotic transcriptional activators work. Nature. 1988 Oct 20;335(6192):683–689. doi: 10.1038/335683a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Rosales R., Vigneron M., Macchi M., Davidson I., Xiao J. H., Chambon P. In vitro binding of cell-specific and ubiquitous nuclear proteins to the octamer motif of the SV40 enhancer and related motifs present in other promoters and enhancers. EMBO J. 1987 Oct;6(10):3015–3025. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02607.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Ruden D. M., Ma J., Ptashne M. No strict alignment is required between a transcriptional activator binding site and the "TATA box" of a yeast gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Jun;85(12):4262–4266. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.12.4262. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Scheidereit C., Cromlish J. A., Gerster T., Kawakami K., Balmaceda C. G., Currie R. A., Roeder R. G. A human lymphoid-specific transcription factor that activates immunoglobulin genes is a homoeobox protein. Nature. 1988 Dec 8;336(6199):551–557. doi: 10.1038/336551a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Scheidereit C., Heguy A., Roeder R. G. Identification and purification of a human lymphoid-specific octamer-binding protein (OTF-2) that activates transcription of an immunoglobulin promoter in vitro. Cell. 1987 Dec 4;51(5):783–793. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90101-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Schreiber E., Matthias P., Müller M. M., Schaffner W. Identification of a novel lymphoid specific octamer binding protein (OTF-2B) by proteolytic clipping bandshift assay (PCBA). EMBO J. 1988 Dec 20;7(13):4221–4229. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03319.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Schreiber E., Matthias P., Müller M. M., Schaffner W. Rapid detection of octamer binding proteins with 'mini-extracts', prepared from a small number of cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Aug 11;17(15):6419–6419. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.15.6419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Schöler H. R., Balling R., Hatzopoulos A. K., Suzuki N., Gruss P. Octamer binding proteins confer transcriptional activity in early mouse embryogenesis. EMBO J. 1989 Sep;8(9):2551–2557. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08393.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Schöler H. R., Hatzopoulos A. K., Balling R., Suzuki N., Gruss P. A family of octamer-specific proteins present during mouse embryogenesis: evidence for germline-specific expression of an Oct factor. EMBO J. 1989 Sep;8(9):2543–2550. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08392.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Sherman P. A., Basta P. V., Heguy A., Wloch M. K., Roeder R. G., Ting J. P. The octamer motif is a B-lymphocyte-specific regulatory element of the HLA-DR alpha gene promoter. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Sep;86(17):6739–6743. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.17.6739. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Singh H., Sen R., Baltimore D., Sharp P. A. A nuclear factor that binds to a conserved sequence motif in transcriptional control elements of immunoglobulin genes. Nature. 1986 Jan 9;319(6049):154–158. doi: 10.1038/319154a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Staudt L. M., Clerc R. G., Singh H., LeBowitz J. H., Sharp P. A., Baltimore D. Cloning of a lymphoid-specific cDNA encoding a protein binding the regulatory octamer DNA motif. Science. 1988 Jul 29;241(4865):577–580. doi: 10.1126/science.3399892. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Staudt L. M., Singh H., Sen R., Wirth T., Sharp P. A., Baltimore D. A lymphoid-specific protein binding to the octamer motif of immunoglobulin genes. Nature. 1986 Oct 16;323(6089):640–643. doi: 10.1038/323640a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Stern S., Tanaka M., Herr W. The Oct-1 homoeodomain directs formation of a multiprotein-DNA complex with the HSV transactivator VP16. Nature. 1989 Oct 19;341(6243):624–630. doi: 10.1038/341624a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Struhl G., Struhl K., Macdonald P. M. The gradient morphogen bicoid is a concentration-dependent transcriptional activator. Cell. 1989 Jun 30;57(7):1259–1273. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90062-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Sturm R. A., Das G., Herr W. The ubiquitous octamer-binding protein Oct-1 contains a POU domain with a homeo box subdomain. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12A):1582–1599. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12a.1582. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Sturm R. A., Herr W. The POU domain is a bipartite DNA-binding structure. Nature. 1988 Dec 8;336(6199):601–604. doi: 10.1038/336601a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  58. Takahashi K., Vigneron M., Matthes H., Wildeman A., Zenke M., Chambon P. Requirement of stereospecific alignments for initiation from the simian virus 40 early promoter. Nature. 1986 Jan 9;319(6049):121–126. doi: 10.1038/319121a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. Tanaka M., Grossniklaus U., Herr W., Hernandez N. Activation of the U2 snRNA promoter by the octamer motif defines a new class of RNA polymerase II enhancer elements. Genes Dev. 1988 Dec;2(12B):1764–1778. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.12b.1764. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  60. Thali M., Müller M. M., DeLorenzi M., Matthias P., Bienz M. Drosophila homoeotic genes encode transcriptional activators similar to mammalian OTF-2. Nature. 1988 Dec 8;336(6199):598–601. doi: 10.1038/336598a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  61. Westin G., Gerster T., Müller M. M., Schaffner G., Schaffner W. OVEC, a versatile system to study transcription in mammalian cells and cell-free extracts. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Sep 11;15(17):6787–6798. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.17.6787. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  62. Wirth T., Staudt L., Baltimore D. An octamer oligonucleotide upstream of a TATA motif is sufficient for lymphoid-specific promoter activity. Nature. 1987 Sep 10;329(6135):174–178. doi: 10.1038/329174a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  63. Wu L., Berk A. Constraints on spacing between transcription factor binding sites in a simple adenovirus promoter. Genes Dev. 1988 Apr;2(4):403–411. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.4.403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  64. Yu H., Porton B., Shen L. Y., Eckhardt L. A. Role of the octamer motif in hybrid cell extinction of immunoglobulin gene expression: extinction is dominant in a two enhancer system. Cell. 1989 Aug 11;58(3):441–448. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90425-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  65. Zaller D. M., Yu H., Eckhardt L. A. Genes activated in the presence of an immunoglobulin enhancer or promoter are negatively regulated by a T-lymphoma cell line. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):1932–1939. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.1932. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  66. Zenke M., Grundström T., Matthes H., Wintzerith M., Schatz C., Wildeman A., Chambon P. Multiple sequence motifs are involved in SV40 enhancer function. EMBO J. 1986 Feb;5(2):387–397. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04224.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES