TY - JOUR
T1 - Pax-6 and lens-specific transcription of the chicken δ1-crystallin gene
AU - Cvekl, Aleš
AU - Sax, Christina M.
AU - Li, Xuan
AU - Mcdermott, Joan B.
AU - Piatigorsky, Joram
PY - 1995/5/9
Y1 - 1995/5/9
N2 - The abundance of δ-crystallin in the chicken eye lens provides an advantageous marker for tissue-specific gene expression during cellular differentiation. The lens-specific expression of the δ1-crystallin gene is governed by an enhancer in the third intron, which binds a positive (δEF2) and negative (δEF1) factor in its core region. Here we show by DNase I footprinting, electrophoretic mobility-shift assays, and cotransfection experiments with the δ1-promoter/enhancer fused to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene that the δ1-crystallin enhancer has two adjacent functional Pax-6 binding sites. We also demonstrate by DNase I footprinting that the δEF1 site can bind the transcription factor USF, raising the possibility that USF may cooperate with Pax-6 in activation of the chicken δ1- and αA-crystallin genes. These data, coupled with our recent demonstration that Pax-6 activates the αA-crystallin gene, suggest that Pax-6 may have been used extensively throughout evolution to recruit and express crystallin genes in the lens.
AB - The abundance of δ-crystallin in the chicken eye lens provides an advantageous marker for tissue-specific gene expression during cellular differentiation. The lens-specific expression of the δ1-crystallin gene is governed by an enhancer in the third intron, which binds a positive (δEF2) and negative (δEF1) factor in its core region. Here we show by DNase I footprinting, electrophoretic mobility-shift assays, and cotransfection experiments with the δ1-promoter/enhancer fused to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene that the δ1-crystallin enhancer has two adjacent functional Pax-6 binding sites. We also demonstrate by DNase I footprinting that the δEF1 site can bind the transcription factor USF, raising the possibility that USF may cooperate with Pax-6 in activation of the chicken δ1- and αA-crystallin genes. These data, coupled with our recent demonstration that Pax-6 activates the αA-crystallin gene, suggest that Pax-6 may have been used extensively throughout evolution to recruit and express crystallin genes in the lens.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.92.10.4681
DO - 10.1073/pnas.92.10.4681
M3 - Article
C2 - 7753864
AN - SCOPUS:0029013330
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 92
SP - 4681
EP - 4685
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 10
ER -