Search results for " Transcription factor"
showing 10 items of 656 documents
Rainfall variability in subequatorial America and Africa and relationships with the main sea-surface temperature modes (1951–1990)
1995
The rainfall variability of subequatorial South America and Africa is poorly documented owing to the scarcity of data. We present a new land-only data set of monthly precipitation from 1951 to 1990, focusing on subequatorial South America and Africa, which improves the knowledge of rainfall variability and allows comparisons with GCM outputs. The results of multivariate analyses are compared with those performed on the best actual global rainfall data set developed by Mike Hulme. The main modes of bimonthly rainfall variability are not located in the major rain-forest basins of Za'ke and Amazonia, but rather on the tropical margins, such as Venezuela or Sudan, and near-coastal equatorial ar…
Heat shock factor 2 is a stress-responsive mediator of neuronal migration defects in models of fetal alcohol syndrome
2014
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a frequent cause of mental retardation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying brain development defects induced by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy are unclear. We used normal and Hsf2-deficient mice and cell systems to uncover a pivotal role for heat shock factor 2 (HSF2) in radial neuronal migration defects in the cortex, a hallmark of fetal alcohol exposure. Upon fetal alcohol exposure, HSF2 is essential for the triggering of HSF1 activation, which is accompanied by distinctive post-translational modifications, and HSF2 steers the formation of atypical alcohol-specific HSF1–HSF2 heterocomplexes. This perturbs the in vivo bindi…
Rapid changes in heat-shock cognate 70 levels, heat-shock cognate phosphorylation state, heat-shock transcription factor, and metal transcription fac…
2010
The aim of the present study was to analyze and compare the effects of several metals on the embryos of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, a key species within the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. Embryos were continuously exposed from fertilization to the following metals: 0.6 mg/l copper, 3 mg/l lead, and 6 mg/l nickel. The embryos were then monitored for metal responses at the gastrula stage, which occurred 24 h after exposure. A biochemical multi-experimental approach was taken and involved the investigation of the levels of HSC70 expression and the involvement of heat shock factor (HSF) and/or metal transcription factor (MTF) in the response. Immunoblotting assays and electrophoretic mo…
Evidence for differential and redundant function of the Sox genes Dichaete and SoxN during CNS development in Drosophila.
2002
Group B Sox-domain proteins encompass a class of conserved DNA-binding proteins expressed from the earliest stages of metazoan CNS development. In all higher organisms studied to date, related Group B Sox proteins are co-expressed in the developing CNS; in vertebrates there are three (Sox1, Sox2 and Sox3) and in Drosophila there are two (SoxNeuro and Dichaete). It has been suggested there may be a degree of functional redundancy in Sox function during CNS development. We describe the CNS phenotype of a null mutation in the Drosophila SoxNeuro gene and provide the first direct evidence for both redundant and differential Sox function during CNS development in Drosophila. In the lateral neuro…
Distinct 5' SCL enhancers direct transcription to developing brain, spinal cord, and endothelium: neural expression is mediated by GATA factor bindin…
1999
The SCL gene encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor with a pivotal role in the development of endothelium and of all hematopoietic lineages. SCL is also expressed in the central nervous system, although its expression pattern has not been examined in detail and its function in neural development is unknown. In this article we present the first analysis of SCL transcriptional regulation in vivo. We have identified three spatially distinct regulatory modules, each of which was both necessary and sufficient to direct reporter gene expression in vivo to three different regions within the normal SCL expression domain, namely, developing endothelium, midbrain, and hindbrain/spinal …
Functional characterization of the sea urchin sns chromatin insulator in erythroid cells.
2005
Abstract Chromatin insulators are regulatory elements that determine domains of genetic functions. We have previously described the characterization of a 265 bp insulator element, termed sns, localized at the 3′ end of the early histone H2A gene of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. This sequence contains three cis-acting elements (Box A, Box B, and Box C + T) all needed for the enhancer-blocking activity in both sea urchin and human cells. The goal of this study was to further characterize the sea urchin sns insulator in the erythroid environment. We employed colony assays in human (K562) and mouse (MEL) erythroid cell lines. We tested the capability of sns to interfere with the communi…
Context-dependent Pax-5 repression of a PU.1/NF-κB regulated reporter gene in B lineage cells
2001
Enhancers located in the 3' end of the locus in part regulate immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene expression. One of these enhancers, HS 1,2, is developmentally regulated by DNA binding proteins like NF-kappaB, Pax-5 and the protein complex NF-alphaP in B lineage cells. Here we report that NF-alphaP is the ets protein PU.1. A glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-pulldown assay demonstrated that PU.1 can physically interact with NF-kappaB in solution. Experiments in COS cells showed that PU.1 and NF-kappaB (p50/c-Rel) can activate transcription of an enhancer linked reporter gene. The paired domain protein Pax-5 has previously been shown to repress enhancer-dependent transcription. Additional c…
Casein kinase 2 inhibits HomolD-directed transcription by Rrn7 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
2014
In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, ribosomal protein gene (RPG) promoters contain a TATA analogue element called the HomolD box. The HomolD-binding protein Rrn7 forms a complex with the RNA polymerase II machinery. Despite the importance of ribosome biogenesis to cell survival, the mechanisms involved in the regulation of transcription of eukaryotic RPGs are unknown. In this study, we identified Rrn7 as a new substrate of the pleiotropic casein kinase 2 (CK2), which is a regulator of basal transcription. Recombinant Rrn7 from S. pombe, which is often used as a model organism for studying eukaryotic transcription, interacted with CK2 in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, CK2-mediated phosphorylation…
Spectrum of novel mutations found in Waardenburg syndrome types 1 and 2: implications for molecular genetic diagnostics
2013
Objectives Till date, mutations in the genes PAX3 and MITF have been described in Waardenburg syndrome (WS), which is clinically characterised by congenital hearing loss and pigmentation anomalies. Our study intended to determine the frequency of mutations and deletions in these genes, to assess the clinical phenotype in detail and to identify rational priorities for molecular genetic diagnostics procedures. Design Prospective analysis. Patients 19 Caucasian patients with typical features of WS underwent stepwise investigation of PAX3 and MITF . When point mutations and small insertions/deletions were excluded by direct sequencing, copy number analysis by multiplex ligation-dependent probe …
Canine Mesenchymal Stem Cells from visceral and subcutaneuous adipose tissue for cell-based therapy
2012
This study compared some characteristics of canine Adipose tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (cAD-MSCs) from subcutaneous and visceral fat. These findings were directed to obtain high quantity and quality cAD-MSCs for clinical cell-based therapy.