Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P51532 (transcriptional activator)
6,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) acts as a transcriptional activator in the interferon system and as a tumor suppressor. The loss of functional IRF-1 has been observed in a significant number of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and leukemia, suggesting a potentially critical role of IRF-1 in human oncostasis. Here we report an alternative mechanism by which IRF-1 may be inactivated. We purified an IRF-1 association molecule which was revealed to be identical to a nuclear factor nucleophosmin (NPM)/B23/numatrin. Functional analysis showed that NPM inhibited the DNA-binding and transcriptional activity of IRF-1. Moreover, NPM was overexpressed in several clinical leukemia samples and human-derived leukemia cell lines. Finally, overexpression of NPM in NIH3T3 cells resulted in malignant transformation. These results suggest the possible involvement of NPM in inactivating IRF-1-dependent anti-oncogenic surveillance in human cancer development.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of nucleophosmin/B23/numatrin which binds the anti-oncogenic transcription factor IRF-1 and manifests oncogenic activity. 931 94

The tumor suppressor protein p53 acts as a transcriptional activator that can mediate cellular responses to DNA damage by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. p53 is a nuclear phosphoprotein, and phosphorylation has been proposed to be a means by which the activity of p53 is regulated. The cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-activating kinase (CAK) was originally identified as a cellular kinase required for the activation of a CDK-cyclin complex, and CAK is comprised of three subunits: CDK7, cyclin H, and p36MAT1. CAK is part of the transcription factor IIH multiprotein complex, which is required for RNA polymerase II transcription and nucleotide excision repair. Because of the similarities between p53 and CAK in their involvement in the cell cycle, transcription, and repair, we investigated whether p53 could act as a substrate for phosphorylation by CAK. While CDK7-cyclin H is sufficient for phosphorylation of CDK2, we show that p36MAT1 is required for efficient phosphorylation of p53 by CDK7-cyclin H, suggesting that p36MAT1 can act as a substrate specificity-determining factor for CDK7-cyclin H. We have mapped a major site of phosphorylation by CAK to Ser-33 of p53 and have demonstrated as well that p53 is phosphorylated at this site in vivo. Both wild-type and tumor-derived mutant p53 proteins are efficiently phosphorylated by CAK. Furthermore, we show that p36 and p53 can interact both in vitro and in vivo. These studies reveal a potential mechanism for coupling the regulation of p53 with DNA repair and the basal transcriptional machinery.
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PMID:p53 is phosphorylated by CDK7-cyclin H in a p36MAT1-dependent manner. 937 54

The breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1, is a nuclear phosphoprotein which functions as a tumor suppressor in human breast cancer cells. BRCA1 protein contains an amino-terminal zinc finger motif and a carboxy-terminal acidic region. Recently, the carboxy-terminal region of BRCA1 and the amino-terminal region of BRCA2 proteins were shown to function as transactivation domains when fused to GAL4 DNA binding domain. We have recently isolated and characterized two new naturally occurring variants of BRCA1 (BRCA1a/p110 and BRCA1b/p100) which are phosphoproteins containing phosphotyrosine that associate with E2F transcriptional factors, cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases indicating a role for BRCA1 proteins in cell-cycle regulation. Here we show for the first time that the amino-terminal region of BRCA1a (BNT) but not BRCA1b can also function as a transcriptional activator when fused to GAL4 DNA binding domain. Thus, BRCA1/1a proteins contain two autonomous transcriptional activation domains, one at the amino-terminal region (BNT) and the other at the carboxy-terminal region (BCT). BRCA1b retains only the BCT domain since it has lost part of the potential BNT domain as a result of alternative splicing. Our results also suggest the presence of an inhibitory domain at the carboxy terminal region of BRCA1 and BRCA1a proteins (BID). Thus, BRCA1b protein may function as a dominant negative variant that could regulate the transcriptional activity of BRCA1/BRCA1a proteins and hence may serve as a marker for identifying individuals with greater potential for developing breast cancer. It may be possible that loss of transcriptional activation or protein-protein interactions in patients with mutations in the amino terminal zinc finger domain could deprive the cell of an important mechanism for regulating cell proliferation leading to the development of breast cancer.
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PMID:Differential transcriptional activation by the N-terminal region of BRCA1 splice variants BRCA1a and BRCA1b. 953 56

p53 is a transcriptional activator that plays a key role in the integration of signals inducing cell division arrest and programmed cell death. Moreover, p53 is a tumor suppressor gene, mutations of which are the most commonly detected mutations in diverse malignancies. In order to better understand the significance of p53 mutations to human cancer, we isolated mutant alleles of p53 that had lost transcription factor activity in yeast. These mutant alleles were evaluated for their precise changes, their activity against three different p53 responsive enhancers and their ability to act in a transdominant fashion to the wild type allele. While many of the mutations isolated in yeast resembled those found in human tumors, consistent with the importance of transcription factor activity for p53 in mammalian cells, the mutational spectrum obtained was dependent upon the p53 enhancer employed for the selection. Some mutations specifically inactivated p53 in yeast for a single enhancer element. Virtually all missense mutations tested had a dominant inhibitory effect on wild type p53 in yeast. Since some of these transdominant mutations are virtually unknown in human tumors we conclude that transdominance, per se, fails to predict which mutations occur frequently in cancer.
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PMID:p53 mutations isolated in yeast based on loss of transcription factor activity: similarities and differences from p53 mutations detected in human tumors. 957 92

p53 is a sequence-specific transcriptional activator with a number of known target genes which contain p53-responsive elements. Mutations in p53 have been identified within its sequence-specific DNA binding domain in more than half of all human tumors, although a subset of tumor-derived p53 mutants have retained the ability to bind DNA and activate transcription under certain conditions. In order to broaden our understanding of this transactivating ability, we examined the efficacy by which p53 mutants bind to and activate reporters in an Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based assay. Analysis of 19 human tumor-derived p53 mutants, spanning the DNA binding domain of p53 and including the 'hot-spot' class, revealed a broad array of transcriptional transactivation abilities at 24 degrees C, 30 degrees C and 37 degrees C, despite the fact that each mutant had originally been identified as being inactive for transactivation in yeast against a single p53-responsive RGC site-containing reporter. One class of mutants (P177L, R267W, C277Y and R283H) retained wild-type or near wild-type activity that is binding site-selective, even at physiological temperature (37 degrees C). Another class of mutants (V143A, M1601/A161T, H193R, Y220C and 1254F), all positioned for maintaining the beta-scaffold of p53, also retained selective activity, but preferentially at sub-physiological temperatures (24 degrees and 30 degrees C). Strikingly, however, in contrast to the other tumor derived mutants, all of the previously identified 'hot-spot' mutants were completely inactive with all sites tested. Moreover, a double mutant, L22E/W23S, located within the activation region and previously shown to be transcriptionally inactive in fibroblasts, retained wild-type or near wild-type binding site-selective activity in yeast. Finally, we found that transcriptional activity in vivo does not necessarily correlate with DNA binding in vitro.
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PMID:Human tumor-derived p53 proteins exhibit binding site selectivity and temperature sensitivity for transactivation in a yeast-based assay. 962 18

The t(2;13) chromosomal translocation occurs at a high frequency in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a common pediatric tumor of muscle. This translocation results in the production of a chimeric fusion protein derived from two developmentally regulated transcription factors, PAX3 and FKHR. The two DNA binding modules, the paired domain and the homeodomain, of PAX3 are fused in frame to the transactivation domain of FKHR. Previously, tumor-specific PAX3-FKHR has been shown to bind to DNA sequences normally recognized by wild-type PAX3 and to exhibit relatively enhanced transcriptional activity. The DNA binding sites used to demonstrate that PAX3-FKHR is a more potent transcriptional activator than PAX3 have included recognition sequences for the paired domain of PAX3. In this report, we demonstrate the ability of PAX3-FKHR to activate the product of a growth control gene, platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor (PDGFalphaR), by recognizing a paired-type homeodomain binding site located in the PDGFalphaR promoter. PAX3 alone cannot mediate transcriptional activation of this promoter under the conditions tested. This provides the first evidence that chromosomal translocation results in altered target gene specificity of PAX3-FKHR and suggests a transcriptional target that may play a significant role in oncogenic activity and rhabdomyosarcoma development.
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PMID:Tumor-specific PAX3-FKHR transcription factor, but not PAX3, activates the platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor. 963 96

The AIR-1-encoded CIITA transcriptional activator is crucial for both constitutive and IFN-gamma-induced MHC class II gene transcription. We show here that the MHC class II negative phenotype of the human hepatocarcinoma cell lines Alexander and HepG2 remains unmodified after treatment with IFN-gamma, although MHC class I expression is up-modulated. This correlates with absence of CIITA mature transcripts. Transfection of an expressible CIITA cDNA in Alexander cells resulted in a very high cell surface expression of all three human class II subsets, HLA-DR, -DP and -DQ, indicating that normally observed induction of CIITA expression by IFN-gamma is probably blocked, in the hepatocarcinoma cell lines, at the level of CIITA transcription and not at the level of IFN-gamma receptor binding and signal transduction mechanisms. To assess whether MHC class II expression on CIITA-transfected Alexander cells could have functional relevance, we tested their capacity to present antigenic peptides to an HLA-DR-restricted T cell line specific for a peptide of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag85 protein. It was found that the transfected cells could not only present the exogenously supplemented peptide but also process Ag85 protein to generate the specific epitope recognized by the HLA-DR-restricted T cell line. Similar results were obtained with CIITA-transfected CFPAC-1 pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells, which differed from Alexander cells in that they were inducible by IFN-gamma. These results suggest new strategies to act on CIITA for increasing the potential of a tumor cell to present putative tumor Ags to the immune system.
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PMID:HLA class II expression in uninducible hepatocarcinoma cells after transfection of AIR-1 gene product CIITA: acquisition of antigen processing and presentation capacity. 967 Sep 58

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) observed in human tumors strongly suggests the existence of (a) tumor-suppressor gene(s) at the concerned locus. A series of studies has revealed that LOH on the long arm of chromosome 5 (5q) frequently occurs in differentiated gastric adenocarcinomas. Furthermore, it has been shown that the interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) locus on chromosome 5q31.1 is one of the common minimal regions of LOH in these cancers. IRF-1 is a transcriptional activator that shows tumor-suppressor activity in the mouse. In the present study, we examined the sequence of the IRF-1 gene in 9 cases of histologically differentiated gastric adenocarcinomas, all of which exhibited LOH at the IRF-1 locus. We identified a mis-sense mutation in the residual allele in one case. This mutated form of IRF-1 showed markedly reduced transcriptional activity. In addition, overexpression of wild-type IRF-1 induced cell-cycle arrest, whereas such activity was attenuated in the mutant IRF-1. These results suggest that the loss of functional IRF-1 is critical for the development of human gastric cancers.
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PMID:Functionally inactivating point mutation in the tumor-suppressor IRF-1 gene identified in human gastric cancer. 967 52

Growth factors of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family inhibit the proliferation of epithelial, endothelial, and hematopoietic cells, and stimulate the synthesis of extracellular matrix components. TGF-beta s are secreted from cells in high-molecular-mass protein complexes that are composed of three proteins, the mature TGF-beta-dimer, the TGF-beta propeptide dimer, or latency-associated protein (LAP), and the latent TGF-beta binding protein (LTBP). Mature TGF-beta is cleaved from its propeptide during secretion, but the proteins remain associated by noncovalent interactions. LTBP is required for efficient secretion and processing of latent TGF-beta and it binds to LAP via disulfide bond(s). LTBP is a component of extracellular matrix microfibrils, and it targets the latent TGF-beta complex to the extracellular matrix. TGF-beta signaling is initiated by proteolytic cleavage of LTBP that results in the release of the latent TGF-beta complex from the extracellular matrix. TGF-beta is activated by dissociation of LAP from the mature TGF-beta. Subsequent signaling involves binding of active TGF-beta to its type II cell surface receptors, which phosphorylate and activate type I TGF-beta receptors. Type I receptors, in turn, phosphorylate cytoplasmic transcriptional activator proteins Smad2 and Smad3, inducing their translocation to the nucleus. Recent evidence suggests that acquisition of resistance to TGF-beta growth inhibition plays a major role in the progression of epithelial and hematopoietic cell malignancies. The role of secretion of TGF-beta in tumorigenesis is more complex. The secretion of TGF-beta s by tumor cells may contribute to autocrine growth inhibition, but on the other hand, it may also promote invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and even immunosuppression. Tumor cells may also fail to deposit LTBP:TGF-beta complexes to the extracellular matrix. The elucidation of the mechanisms of the release of TGF-beta from the matrix and its subsequent activation aids the understanding of the pathophysiologic roles of TGF-beta in malignant growth, and allows the development of therapeutic agents that regulate the activity of TGF-beta.
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PMID:Extracellular matrix-associated transforming growth factor-beta: role in cancer cell growth and invasion. 970 8

Beta-catenin forms complexes with Tcf and Lef-1 and functions as a transcriptional activator downstream of the Wnt signaling pathway. Activation of the pathway by stabilization of beta-catenin has been shown to be important in the development of colorectal carcinoma, which is mainly caused by inactivating mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene or by activating mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene. Here, we analyzed mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene in endometrial carcinoma cases in which loss of heterozygosity at the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene locus has been rarely reported. We found that 10 of 76 cases had beta-catenin gene mutations. All mutations identified were single-base missense mutations on serine/threonine residues (codons 33, 37, 41, and 45), altering the glycogen synthase kinase-3beta phosphorylation consensus motif, which participates in the degradation of beta-catenin. To determine whether these beta-catenin mutations actually led to stabilization of this protein, expression of beta-catenin was analyzed immunohistochemically, and 9 of 10 cases with the beta-catenin mutation and 20 of 66 cases without it showed accumulation of beta-catenin in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus. In total, 38% of cases showed accumulation of beta-catenin. These data indicate that stabilization of beta-catenin due to mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene and other mechanisms may have an important role in development of endometrial carcinomas.
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PMID:Beta-catenin mutation in carcinoma of the uterine endometrium. 972 53


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