Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A critical regulatory element in many promoters transcribed by RNA polymerase II is the "TATA" box, which is located 25-30 nucleotides upstream of the transcription initiation site. TFIID is a biochemically defined HeLa cell nuclear fraction containing a transcription factor activity that binds specifically to the TATA box and is critical in determining both basal and regulated promoter activity. Recently, the gene for a TATA-binding protein was cloned and found to bind to various TATA elements and to substitute for TFIID in stimulating basal gene expression in in vitro transcription systems. However, it is possible that additional cellular factors can bind to the TATA element and influence the level of gene expression. By using lambda gt11 expression cloning with oligonucleotides corresponding to the human immunodeficiency virus 1 TATA element, we report the identification of a cellular protein with a calculated molecular mass of 123 kDa that we designate TATA element modulatory factor (TMF). TMF binds to the human immunodeficiency virus 1 TATA element in gel-retardation assays and inhibits activation of the viral long terminal repeat by the TATA-binding protein in in vitro transcription assays. TMF contains leucine-zipper amino acid motifs and exhibits homology in its DNA binding domain with the phage-encoded DNA binding protein Ner. Chromosomal mapping localizes the TMF gene to human chromosome 3p12-p21, which is a site of frequent rearrangements in lung and renal carcinomas. Thus, TMF is a transcription factor that likely regulates the expression of both viral and cellular genes.
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PMID:Cloning and chromosomal mapping of a human immunodeficiency virus 1 "TATA" element modulatory factor. 140 43

The highly conserved Wnt genes belong to a widely distributed family of presumptive signaling molecules that have been implicated not only in the regulation of normal pattern formation during embryogenesis and differentiation of cell lineages, but also in oncogenic events. All of the known vertebrate Wnt genes encode for 38- to 43-kDa cysteine-rich putative glycoproteins, which have features typical of secreted growth factors: a hydrophobic signal sequence, a conserved asparagine-linked oligosaccharide consensus sequence, and 22 conserved cysteine residues whose relative spacing is maintained. In this study, we report the cloning and sequencing of several overlapping cDNAs encoding approximately 4.1 kb of the human homologue of Wnt-5A. The mature protein contained 343 residues (M(r) approximately 38,000 excluding any post-translational modifications) with a > 93% homology to the reported sequences of other Wnt-5A proteins (> 99% homologous to mouse Wnt-5A). This protein maintained certain features--a hydrophobic signal sequence, the Wnt-1 family "signature sequence" (CKCHGvSGSC), and a number of other conserved amino acid residues: 24 cysteine residues, 4 asparagine-linked oligosaccharide consensus sequences, and a tyrosine sulfation site--that have been found in all other Wnt-5A proteins. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis of RNA from a variety of human embryonic, neonatal, and adult cells and/or tissues showed that human Wnt-5A expression was detected only in neonatal heart and lung. It may be relevant, however, that the 3'-untranslated region contained numerous AT-rich motifs that could be involved in the rapid degradation of mRNA. Finally, using a combination of Southern blotting, PCR amplification, and in situ hybridization, the human Wnt-5A (WNT5A) gene was mapped to chromosome 3p14-p21.
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PMID:Molecular cloning of the human proto-oncogene Wnt-5A and mapping of the gene (WNT5A) to chromosome 3p14-p21. 828 27

Transcription elongation factors assist RNA polymerase II through transcriptional blockages. The human transcriptional elongation factor SII or Trascription Elongation Factor A (TCEA) releases RNA polymerase II from transcriptional arrest and is encoded by a 2.5-kb intronless gene. Using PCR primers, verified by RT-PCR to amplify the authentic, transcriptionally active SII gene, this locus was mapped to human chromosome 3 by examination of a human/rodent somatic cell hybrid panel. PCR analysis of somatic cell hybrids with chromosome 3 translocations and FISH studies utilizing a human YAC clone containing the SII gene further refine the map position of this locus to human chromosome 3p22 --> p21.3. Since another elongation factor, SIII, has been implicated in human carcinogenesis and since the interval within which the human SII gene maps is frequently deleted in certain cancers, elongation factor SII may therefore be considered a candidate gene for human malignancies involving 3p22 --> p21.3.
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PMID:Transcription elongation factor SII (TCEA) maps to human chromosome 3p22 --> p21.3. 881 34

p21(WAF1/CIP1) is a universal cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor, the expression of which is regulated by p53-dependent and p53-independent pathways. We examined p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression in and p53 status of 21 primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and by PCR single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. p21(WAF1/CIP1) messenger RNA expression was reduced markedly in 8 of 21 HCCs (38.1%) and 5 of these 8 HCCs bore p53 mutations. The relative p21(WAF1/CIP1) messenger RNA expression value of HCCs with p53 mutations (.73 +/- .13 U, n = 6) was significantly lower than that of HCCs with wild-type p53 (1.00 +/- 0.21 U, n = 14; P < .01). The p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression levels in cancerous tissues (.73 +/- .13 U) were significantly reduced in comparison with those in noncancerous tissues (.97 +/- .13 U) (P < .01) in the 6 cases with p53 mutations. These data indicate that p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression in HCCs is predominantly regulated by dependence on p53 and that reduced p21(WAF1/CIP1 expression may participate in hepatocarcinogenesis.
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PMID:Reduced p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression and p53 mutation in hepatocellular carcinomas. 904 1

Chronic inflammatory states frequently lead to the increased production of nitric oxide (NO) via inducible NO synthase (NOS-2). In addition, NO may produce mutagenesis through several mechanisms such as DNA oxidation, DNA deamination, and the formation of N-nitroso compounds. As there is a strong association between human hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we were interested in whether human HCV hepatitis leads to induction of NOS-2 and if the mutation repair system of p53/p21 was upregulated. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for human NOS-2 message was performed on RNA samples from both liver biopsies and whole liver from HCV-positive and control patients (normal liver from hepatic resections for metastases). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for p53 and Western blot analysis for p21 were also performed on the whole liver samples. From the liver biopsies, 60% of HCV-positive patients expressed NOS-2 by RT-PCR. Looking at the whole liver samples, 100% of the HCV-positive patients expressed NOS-2 vs 12.5% in the normal samples. p53 was not detected in either group but there was upregulation of p21 over baseline expression in a number of the HCV-positive patients. Human HCV hepatitis leads to consistent upregulation of hepatic NOS-2 message, but message is not predictably present in "normal" human liver. There is also induction of p21 in some patients with HCV hepatitis. Chronic expression of NO in HCV hepatitis may play a role in DNA mutagenesis and the development of HCC.
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PMID:Chronic hepatitis C virus infection in humans: induction of hepatic nitric oxide synthase and proposed mechanisms for carcinogenesis. 922

Previous studies have shown that the apoptotic response of cells following DNA damage requires p53 expression. Wild-type p53 protein levels increase in response to DNA damage and its growth-suppressive action is thought to be mediated by transcriptional activation of the p21/WAF1/CIP1 gene, the product of which is a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. The mechanism by which elevated p53 levels lead to apoptosis is not known, but is believed to involve transcriptional activation of apoptotic genes, such as BAX. We have studied transformed human cells that constitutively express high levels of the R273H mutant p53, which has been reported to lack transcriptional activation activity. We used the inability to induce the p21/Waf1/Cip1 protein as a marker to verify the lack of transcriptional activation activity. Cells expressing the R273H mutant of p53 do not show an increase in p21/Waf1/Cip1 following irradiation with ionizing or UVB radiation. Surprisingly, these cells are very susceptible to induction of apoptosis by UVB radiation, as seen by the formation of a nucleosomal ladder and the proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. This suggests that the R273 mutant p53 can function normally in apoptosis but not in transcriptional activation following DNA damage. Furthermore, an inhibitor of RNA polymerase II is a potent inducer of apoptosis in these cells, demonstrating that transcription is not required for apoptosis and suggesting that stalled RNA polymerase II complexes can initiate apoptosis. Interestingly, proteolytic cleavage of p53 occurs during apoptosis in these cells, generating a 45-kDa fragment and liberating the DNA repair helicase binding domain of p53. We propose that the peptide liberated from the carboxy terminus of p53 may contribute to its apoptotic activity, possibly through interaction with the XPB and XPD DNA helicases.
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PMID:The apoptotic and transcriptional transactivation activities of p53 can be dissociated. 949 57

Cell cycle progression is controlled by the sequential functions of cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks). Cdk activation requires phosphorylation of a key residue (on sites equivalent to Thr-160 in human cdk2) carried out by the cdk-activating kinase (CAK). Human CAK has been identified as a p40(MO15)/cyclin H/MAT1 complex that also functions as part of transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) where it phosphorylates multiple transcriptional components including the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the large subunit of RNA polymerase II. In contrast, CAK from budding yeast consists of a single polypeptide (Cak1p), is not a component of TFIIH, and lacks CTD kinase activity. Here we report that Cak1p and p40(MO15) have strikingly different substrate specificities. Cak1p preferentially phosphorylated monomeric cdks, whereas p40(MO15) preferentially phosphorylated cdk/cyclin complexes. Furthermore, p40(MO15) only phosphorylated cdk6 bound to cyclin D3, whereas Cak1p recognized monomeric cdk6 and cdk6 bound to cyclin D1, D2, or D3. We also found that cdk inhibitors, including p21(CIP1), p27(KIP1), p57(KIP2), p16(INK4a), and p18(INK4c), could block phosphorylation by p40(MO15) but not phosphorylation by Cak1p. Our results demonstrate that although both Cak1p and p40(MO15) activate cdks by phosphorylating the same residue, the structural mechanisms underlying the enzyme-substrate recognition differ greatly. Structural and physiological implications of these findings will be discussed.
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PMID:Human and yeast cdk-activating kinases (CAKs) display distinct substrate specificities. 972 11

The growth suppressor p53 is an important key element which controls cell cycle progression in response to cellular stress like DNA damage. Its ability to act as transcriptional activator or repressor links transcription and cell cycle control. Several target genes selectively transactivated by p53 are implicated in growth control, apoptosis and DNA repair. Here we report the interaction of p53 with another important dual player of cell cycle control and transcription, the protein kinase complex CDK7/cyclin H/Mat1 (CDK activating kinase, CAK kinase). This is implicated in the activating phosphorylation of CDK2/cyclin A kinase required to allow cells to proceed through the G1/S transition, and on the other hand, as a component of the basal transcription factor TFIIH found to be necessary for CTD phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II in order to allow elongation of transcription. Based on previous binding studies of p53 with other C-terminal interaction partners of p53 we demonstrate a direct physical interaction of p53 with cyclin H in vitro and in vivo. As a consequence of this interaction we tested the influence of p53 on the kinase activity of CAK kinase for CTD and CDK2 phosphorylation. The addition of wild type p53 to the kinase reactions resulted in a significant downregulation of CDK2 phosphorylation and CTD phosphorylation by the CDK activating kinase. On the other hand addition of a mutant p53His175 failed to downregulate CDK2 and CTD phosphorylation by the CDK activating kinase. In an attempt to support our findings in vivo we measured CAK kinase activity in p21-/- and p53-/- mice embryonal fibroblasts under conditions when p53 gets activated by irradiation. In the case of p21-/- cells this led to a significant reduction of CTD phosphorylation activity of the CDK activating kinase by irradiation of the cells. On the other hand in p53 cells no downregulation of CTD phosphorylation activity of CAK kinase was observed indicating that this kind of negative regulation of CAK kinase activity is exclusively due to a functional p53. These findings imply a direct involvement of p53 in triggering growth arrest by its interaction with the CDK activating kinase complex without the need of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) and potentially suggest a new mechanism for p53-dependent apoptosis.
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PMID:Regulation of CAK kinase activity by p53. 984 Sep 37

ELL was originally identified as a gene that undergoes translocation with the trithorax-like MLL gene in acute myeloid leukemia. Recent studies have shown that the gene product, ELL, functions as an RNA polymerase II elongation factor that increases the rate of transcription by RNA polymerase II by suppressing transient pausing. Using yeast two-hybrid screening with ELL as bait, we isolated the p53 tumor suppressor protein as a specific interactor of ELL. The interaction involves respectively the transcription elongation activation domain of ELL and the C-terminal tail of p53. Through this interaction, ELL inhibits both sequence-specific transactivation and sequence-independent transrepression by p53. Thus, ELL acts as a negative regulator of p53 in transcription. Conversely, p53 inhibits the transcription elongation activity of ELL, suggesting that p53 is capable of regulating general transcription by RNA polymerase II through controlling the ELL activity. Elevated levels of ELL in cells resulted in the inhibition of p53-dependent induction of endogenous p21 and substantially protected cells from p53-mediated apoptosis that is induced by genotoxic stress. Our observations indicate the existence of a mutually inhibitory interaction between p53 and a general transcription elongation factor ELL and raise the possibility that an aberrant interaction between p53 and ELL may play a role in the genesis of leukemias carrying MLL-ELL gene translocations.
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PMID:Physical interaction and functional antagonism between the RNA polymerase II elongation factor ELL and p53. 1035 50

When phosphorylated, the dimeric form of nitrogen regulatory protein C (NtrC) of Salmonella typhimurium forms a larger oligomer(s) that can hydrolyze ATP and hence activate transcription by the sigma(54)-holoenzyme form of RNA polymerase. Studies of Mg-nucleoside triphosphate binding using a filter-binding assay indicated that phosphorylation is not required for nucleotide binding but probably controls nucleotide hydrolysis per se. Studies of binding by isothermal titration calorimetry indicated that the apparent K(d) of unphosphorylated NtrC for MgATPgammaS is 100 microM at 25 degrees C, and studies by filter binding indicated that the concentration of MgATP required for half-maximal binding is 130 microM at 37 degrees C. Filter-binding studies with mutant forms of NtrC defective in ATP hydrolysis implicated two regions of its central domain directly in nucleotide binding and three additional regions in hydrolysis. All five are highly conserved among activators of sigma(54)-holoenzyme. Regions implicated in binding are the Walker A motif and the region around residues G355 to R358, which may interact with the nucleotide base. Regions implicated in nucleotide hydrolysis are residues S207 and E208, which have been proposed to lie in a region analogous to the switch I effector region of p21(ras) and other purine nucleotide-binding proteins; residue R294, which may be a catalytic residue; and residue D239, which is the conserved aspartate in the putative Walker B motif. D239 appears to play a role in binding the divalent cation essential for nucleotide hydrolysis. Electron paramagnetic resonance analysis of Mn(2+) binding indicated that the central domain of NtrC does not bind divalent cation strongly in the absence of nucleotide.
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PMID:MgATP binding and hydrolysis determinants of NtrC, a bacterial enhancer-binding protein. 1041 63


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