Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Liver-enriched factor LFB1 (also named HNF1) is a dimeric transcription activator which is essential for the expression of many hepatocyte-specific genes. Here we demonstrate that LFB1 mutants in the POU A-like or in the homeo domains inhibit wild-type DNA binding by forming inactive heterodimeric complexes. Co-transfection of one of these mutants with wild-type LFB1 in HeLa cells eliminated LFB1 DNA binding and transcriptional activities through a trans-dominant mechanism. Expression of the same dominant negative mutant in human hepatoma HepG2 cells only partially inhibited endogenous LFB1 activity, due to stabilization of LFB1 dimers in these cells. Dimer stabilization in hepatoma cells is mediated by a heat-labile association with an 11kD polypeptide, analogous to the DCoH cofactor identified in rat liver by Mendel et al. (1). The property of stabilizing LFB1 dimers is also shared by HeLa cells which produce a HeLa homolog of DCoH. These results demonstrate that LFB1 dimer stabilization as well as the synthesis of 'stabilizing factors' are not restricted to cells expressing LFB1 or other members of its family.
 ...
PMID:Trans-dominant inhibition of transcription activator LFB1. 133 85

The rat tyrosine aminotransferase gene (TAT) is a glucocorticoid-inducible gene, specifically expressed in liver. Using gel retardation assays, we have shown that its promoter (nt + 1 to -350; TAT.35) binds a combination of both ubiquitous and liver-specific trans-acting factors. Cis-acting sequences spanning: (i) nt -65 to -85 bound NF-Y, an ubiquitous "AACCAAT" box binding factor; (ii) nt -157 to -171 bound a liver-enriched member of the NF1 gene family [NF1Liver (NF1L hereafter)]; (iii) nt -266 to -281 bound the liver specific factor HNF1; and (iv) nt -283 to -288 bound ubiquitous "CCAAT" box binding factor(s). Moreover, the TAT gene promoter was able to drive liver-specific basal transcription, even in an in vitro assay using TAT-expressing (liver) vs non-expressing (spleen) crude nuclear extracts (NEs). Competition studies in transcription with both unmutated and mutated ds-oligonucleotides (ds-oligos) demonstrated that NF1L and HNF1 supported approx. 60 and 25% of the basal transcriptional activity sustained by TAT.35 in the liver, respectively. Neither of these oligos affected the very low level of transcription sustained by spleen NEs. This suggests a minor role for HNF1 in liver-specific basal TAT gene expression, consistent with previous observations with dedifferentiated C2 hepatoma cells (which does not express HNF1) [Deschatrette and Weiss. Biochimie 56 (1974) 1603-1611 and Cereghini et al. EMBO Jl9 (1990) 2257-2263]. Competition studies in liver-specific in vitro transcription with ds-oligo -265/-290 yielded a 90% inhibition, suggesting either that sequences spanning nt -283 to -288 sequester "CCAAT-box" binding factor(s) that may be relevant elsewhere for TAT promoter function (e.g. NF-Y which interacts with nt -65 to -85), or that such a factor interacts functionally with HNF1.
 ...
PMID:Two liver-enriched trans-acting factors support the tissue-specific basal transcription from the rat tyrosine aminotransferase promoter. 134 27

We have cloned and characterized a mouse cDNA coding for LFB3, a DNA binding protein containing an extra-large homeodomain. The first 315 amino acids of LFB3 are highly homologous to the DNA binding domain of LFB1, a regulatory protein involved in the expression of several liver-specific genes. LFB3 is a transcriptional activator which binds to DNA as a dimer and forms heterodimers with LFB1 both in vitro and in vivo. However, LFB3 expression seems not to be directly correlated with the liver-specific phenotype, since it is detected in dedifferentiated hepatoma cell lines which express neither LFB1 nor several liver-specific genes. LFB3 expression starts before that of LFB1 during mouse and rat development, and is strongly increased upon retinoic acid induced differentiation of F9 embryonic carcinoma cells. LFB3 and LFB1 are expressed in the epithelial component of many organs of endodermal and mesodermal origin, suggesting that they may play a more general role associated with the differentiation of specialized epithelia.
 ...
PMID:LFB3, a heterodimer-forming homeoprotein of the LFB1 family, is expressed in specialized epithelia. 167 25

vHNF1 and HNF1 are two nuclear proteins that bind to an essential element in the promoter proximal sequences of albumin and of many other liver-specific genes. HNF1 predominates in hepatocytes but is absent in dedifferentiated hepatoma cells. These cells contain vHNF1 but fail to express most of the liver traits. In the present work we have isolated cDNA clones for vHNF1 and found that it is a homeoprotein homologous to HNF1 in regions important for DNA binding. Unexpectedly, vHNF1 transactivated the albumin promoter in transfection experiments. Like the HNF1 mRNA, the vHNF1 message was found in kidney, liver and intestine although in different proportions. The fact that vHNF1 and HNF1 readily form heterodimers in vitro and the biochemical characterization of vHNF1/HNF1 heterodimers in nuclear extracts of kidney, liver and several cell lines, strongly argue that such heterodimers exist in vivo. Our results raise the possibility that heterodimerization between homeoproteins could be a common phenomenon in higher eukaryotes, which may have implications in the regulatory network sustained between these factors.
 ...
PMID:vHNF1 is a homeoprotein that activates transcription and forms heterodimers with HNF1. 167 26

HNF1 is a transcriptional activator, required for the liver-specific expression of a variety of genes, that binds to DNA as a dimer via the most diverged homeodomain known so far. We were interested to examine whether HNF1 is a unique homeoprotein example or whether it is the prototype of a new subfamily of homeodomain containing proteins. In this work we describe the isolation of a cDNA clone from a human liver library encoding a protein, highly homologous to HNF1 in three regions, including the homeo- and dimerization domains. We show that this protein can heterodimerize with human HNF1 in vitro. Sequence comparison of our clone with a rat variant HNF1 (vHNF1) clone, isolated in parallel in our laboratory from the dedifferentiated H5 hepatoma cell line, identified our cDNA as human vHNF1. vHNF1 is a nuclear protein recognizing the same binding site as HNF1 and previously thought to occur only in dedifferentiated hepatoma cells that fail to express most liver specific genes. Nevertheless, we show by Northern blot analysis that vHNF1 transcripts are present in differentiated human HepG2 hepatoma cells as well as in rat liver and that this transcript level is 10-20 fold lower than that of HNF1. We assigned the vHNF-1 gene to human chromosome 17 and murine chromosome 11. These chromosomal localizations differ from that of the HNF-1 gene indicating that both genes are not clustered on the genome.
 ...
PMID:Two members of an HNF1 homeoprotein family are expressed in human liver. 167 79

HNF1 (Hepatic Nuclear Factor 1) and vHNF1 are transcriptional regulators containing a highly divergent homeodomain. The first was initially found in liver nuclear extracts and is crucial for the transcription of albumin and many other hepatocyte specific genes, while the second was found in dedifferentiated hepatoma cells. Both recognize the same DNA binding site and can form homo and heterodimers in vitro and in vivo. In situ hybridization analyses have been performed to delineate the spatial and temporal pattern of expression of vHNF1 relative to HNF1 during mouse embryogenesis. The results show that accumulation of vHNF1 mRNAs expression is detected in several tissues of the embryo of both endodermal and mesodermal origin. Expression occurs in the yolk sac, the primitive gut, the liver primordium, and at different stages of kidney development in polarized epithelial structures and usually precedes that of HNF1. vHNF1 expression seems particularly prevalent with morphogenetic events in the kidney and may be a marker for certain polarized epithelium.
 ...
PMID:vHNF1 is expressed in epithelial cells of distinct embryonic origin during development and precedes HNF1 expression. 168 90

The transthyretin (TTR) gene is regulated by two DNA regions which elicit hepatocyte-specific expression: a proximal promoter and distal enhancer. The TTR promoter and enhancer are composed of at least eight DNA binding sites for three different hepatocyte nuclear factors (HNF), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP), and AP-1/cJun. Site directed mutations within each of the HNF binding sites in the TTR promoter were introduced to evaluate their contribution to transcriptional activity in hepatoma cells. The data indicate that the strong affinity HNF-3-S binding site (-106 to -94) is absolutely required for TTR promoter activity since several mutations in this site eliminate TTR expression in the context of its enhancer. Conversion of a second weak affinity HNF3-W site (-140 to -131) in the TTR promoter to a high affinity site resulted in higher levels of expression. TTR mutations that disrupted several weak affinity sites (HNF1, HNF3-W, and HNF4) only slightly diminished expression levels in the presence of the TTR enhancer. In contrast, when we deleted the TTR enhancer from these HNF mutant constructs, TTR expression decreased to undetectable levels. This result suggests cooperation between the factors binding to the TTR promoter and enhancer regions. These results also demonstrate that the HNF3-S site alone is not sufficient to activate TTR transcription, but rather requires the participation of three cell-specific factors to elicit minimal promoter activity. The complexity of this promoter design and the requirement for a minimal number of cell-specific factors to achieve transcription allows us to propose a model which may explain the maintenance of tissue-specific expression of TTR.
 ...
PMID:Site-directed mutagenesis of hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF) binding sites in the mouse transthyretin (TTR) promoter reveal synergistic interactions with its enhancer region. 187 Sep 69

To investigate the regulation of genes whose expression is enriched in liver we studied expression of the albumin and transthyretin (TTR) genes in a series of rat hepatoma cell lines (FaO, C2, C2rev7, and H5) that express these genes at different rates. The level of expression of albumin and TTR was compared to the expression and DNA-binding activity of four transcription factors, HNF1/LFB1, C/EBP, HNF3, and HNF4, that are found at high concentrations in liver. We conclude that the levels of these factors are controlled both transcriptionally (HNF-3, HNF-4, and C/EBP) and post-transcriptionally (HNF-1/LFB1), and that the cellular concentration of these DNA-binding proteins helps explain the level of transcriptional activity observed for the genes they regulate.
 ...
PMID:Differential regulation of hepatocyte-enriched transcription factors explains changes in albumin and transthyretin gene expression among hepatoma cells. 187 51

The sequences preceding the albumin mRNA start site are able to direct efficient transcription only upon introduction into cells expressing the endogenous albumin gene. In transient expression assays, the activity of a reporter gene (CAT) linked to this promoter is 100-fold higher in H4II differentiated hepatoma cells than in H5 dedifferentiated cells which no longer express their albumin gene. This tissue specificity depends on the very proximal promoter region, composed of a CCAAT box, the proximal element and a TATA box. Deletion of the CCAAT box leads to a two- to threefold decrease in activity, deletion of the proximal element (PE) results in loss of activity. The PE is a high-affinity binding site for HNF1/APF, a strictly liver specific trans-acting factor. When the affinity of this factor for PE is decreased by bacterial methylation (PE includes a dam methylase site), by mutation, or by its replacement with the homologous element from the alpha-fetoprotein gene (AFP), the activity of the short promoter (PE plus the TATA box) is abolished. This activity can be rescued in the presence of the more upstream elements: DEII, DEI and the CCAAT box (recognized, respectively, by the NF1/CTF, C/EBP and NFY/ACF factors) which are then absolutely required. Our results suggest that the upstream elements contribute to promoter activity by stabilizing the HNF1-PE complex and not by direct interaction with TFIID or the RNA polymerase. It is probable that these elements, essentially dispensable in already differentiated hepatoma cells, play a crucial role during development or differentiation to activate the promoter in cells that contain a low concentration of HNF1 and/or an HNF1 unable to open inactive chromatin alone.
 ...
PMID:Anatomy of the rat albumin promoter. 218 62

The promoter proximal sequences of a group of liver-specific genes including that of albumin interact with the same hepato-specific factor named HNF1, LFB1, APF or HP1, a distant member of the homeoprotein family. A distinct protein, termed variant HNF1 (vHNF1), of lower mol. wt but displaying identical sequence specificity is found both in dedifferentiated variants and in an extinguished somatic hybrid that fail to express most or all of the tissue-specific traits, including albumin. We show here that HNF1 transcripts are present only in differentiated hepatoma cells. No transcripts are detected in dedifferentiated variants or in the extinguished cell hybrid, strongly suggesting that the vHNF1 protein is encoded by a distinct gene. Finally, HNF1 transcripts reappear in revertants to the hepatic phenotype. Run-on transcription analysis in isolated nuclei demonstrates that the expression of HNF1 in these cell lines is regulated primarily at the transcriptional level. Contrary to HNF1, the mRNAs coding for two other nuclear factors involved in albumin transcription, C/EBP and NF1, do not follow the distribution of albumin transcripts in these cell lines. These results indicate that extinction in somatic hybrids or loss of expression upon dedifferentiation of liver-specific genes possessing an HNF1 recognition site is caused, at least in part, by a block in HNF1 gene expression.
 ...
PMID:Hepatocyte dedifferentiation and extinction is accompanied by a block in the synthesis of mRNA coding for the transcription factor HNF1/LFB1. 235 69


1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>