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

Proteins that have a structure similar to those of LuxR and FixJ comprise a large subfamily of transcriptional activator proteins. Most members of the LuxR-FixJ family contain a similar amino-terminal receiver domain linked by a small region to a carboxy-terminal domain that contains an amino acid sequence similar to the helix-turn-helix (HTH) motif found in other DNA-binding proteins. GerE from Bacillus subtilis is the smallest member of the LuxR-FixJ family. Its 74-amino-acid sequence is similar over its entire length to the DNA binding region of this protein family, including the HTH motif. Therefore, GerE provides a simple model for studies of the role of this HTH domain in DNA binding. Toward this aim, we sought to identify the amino acids within this motif that are important for the specificity of binding to DNA. We examined the effects of single base pair substitutions in the high-affinity GerE binding site on the sigK promoter and found that nucleotides at positions +2, +3, and +4 relative to the transcription start site on the sigK promoter are important for a high-affinity interaction with GerE. We next examined the effects of single alanine substitutions at two positions in the HTH region of GerE on binding to wild-type or mutant target sites. We found that the substitution of an alanine for the threonine at position 42 of GerE produced a protein that binds with equal affinity to two sites that differ by 1 bp, whereas wild-type GerE binds with different affinities to these two sites. These results provide evidence that the amino acyl residues in or near the putative HTH region of GerE and potentially other members of the LuxR-FixJ family determine the specificity of DNA binding.
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PMID:Identification of a DNA binding region in GerE from Bacillus subtilis. 1141 58

MEF, a recently identified member of the E74 family of ETS-related transcription factors, is a strong transcriptional activator of cytokine gene expression. Using a green fluorescent protein gene reporter plasmid regulated by an MEF-responsive promoter, we determined that the transcriptional activity of MEF is largely restricted to the G1 phase of the cell cycle. MEF-dependent transcription was suppressed by the expression of cyclin A but not by cyclin D or cyclin E. This effect was due to the kinase activity generated by cyclin A expression, as co-expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 or p27, or a dominant negative form of CDK2 (DNK2), abrogated the reduction of MEF transcriptional activity by cyclin A. Cyclin A-CDK2 phosphorylated MEF protein in vitro more efficiently than cyclin D-CDK4 or cyclin E-CDK2, and phosphorylation of MEF by cyclin A-CDK2 reduced its ability to bind DNA. We determined one site of phosphorylation by cyclin A-CDK2 at the C terminus of MEF, using mass-spectrometry; mutation of three serine or threonine residues in this region significantly reduced phosphorylation of MEF by cyclin A and reduced cyclin A-mediated suppression of its transactivating activity. These amino acid substitutions also reduced the restriction of MEF activity to G1. Phosphorylation of MEF by the cyclin A-CDK2 complex controls its transcriptional activity during the cell cycle, establishing a novel link between the ETS family of proteins and the cell cycle machinery.
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PMID:Cyclin A-dependent phosphorylation of the ETS-related protein, MEF, restricts its activity to the G1 phase of the cell cycle. 1150 16

AfsR is a pleiotropic, global regulator that controls the production of actinorhodin, undecylprodigiosin and calcium-dependent antibiotic in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). AfsR, with 993 amino acids, is phosphorylated on serine and threonine residues by a protein serine/threonine kinase AfsK and contains an OmpR-like DNA-binding fold at its N-terminal portion and A- and B-type nucleotide-binding motifs in the middle of the protein. The DNA-binding domain, in-dependently of the nucleotide-binding domain, contributed the binding of AfsR to the upstream region of afsS that locates immediately 3' to afsR and encodes a 63-amino-acid protein. No transcription of afsS in the DeltaafsR background and restoration of afsS transcription by afsR on a plasmid in the same genetic background indicated that afsR served as a transcriptional activator for afsS. Interestingly, the AfsR binding site overlapped the promoter of afsS, as determined by DNase I protection assay and high-resolution S1 nuclease mapping. The nucleotide-binding domain contributed distinct ATPase and GTPase activity. The phosphorylation of AfsR by AfsK greatly enhanced the DNA-binding activity and modulated the ATPase activity. The DNA-binding ability of AfsR was independent of the ATPase activity. However, the ATPase activity was essential for transcriptional activation of afsS, probably because the energy available from ATP hydrolysis is required for the isomerization of the closed complex between AfsR and RNA polymerase to a transcriptionally competent open complex. Thus, AfsR turns out to be a unique transcriptional factor, in that it is modular, in which DNA-binding and ATPase activities are physically separable, and the two functions are modulated by phosphorylation on serine and threonine residues.
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PMID:afsS is a target of AfsR, a transcriptional factor with ATPase activity that globally controls secondary metabolism in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). 1195 95

A number of proteins in the Gram-positive bacterial genus Streptomyces are phosphorylated on their serine/threonine and tyrosine residues in response to developmental phases. AfsR is one of these proteins and acts as a transcriptional factor in both the regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces griseus. In S. coelicolor A3(2), AfsR is phosphorylated on its serine and threonine residues by more than three protein kinases whose kinase activity is enhanced by means of autophosphorylation on their serine and threonine residues. The degree of autophosphorylation of AfsK is regulated by KbpA which, by binding directly to the kinase domain of AfsK, inhibits its autophosphorylation. Phosphorylation of AfsR enhances its DNA-binding activity and causes it to bind the promoter elements, including -35, of afsS, thus resulting in activation of afsS transcription. ATPase activity of AfsR is essential for this transcriptional activation, probably because the energy available from ATP hydrolysis is required for the isomerization of the closed complex between AfsR and RNA polymerase to a transcriptionally competent open complex. afsS, encoding a 63-amino-acid protein, then activates transcription of actII-ORF4, a pathway-specific transcriptional activator in the actinorhodin biosynthetic gene cluster, in an as yet unknown way. Distribution of the afsK- afsR systems in a wide variety of Streptomyces species and the presence of many phosphorylated proteins in a given Streptomyces strain suggest that the signal transduction via not only two-component regulatory systems but also serine/threonine kinases generally regulates secondary metabolism and morphogenesis in this genus.
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PMID:Protein serine/threonine kinases in signal transduction for secondary metabolism and morphogenesis in Streptomyces. 1217 4

The phosphorylation state of transcription factors is a critical determinant of their function. C/EBPbeta occurs in cells as the transcriptional activator liver-enriched activating protein (LAP) and in the truncated form liver-enriched inhibitory protein (LIP) that inhibits transcription. Analysis of C/EBPbeta phosphorylation by isoelectric focusing (IEF) shows that LAP is present in multiple forms, each with a different degree of phosphorylation in 3T3-F442A fibroblasts. Growth hormone (GH) treatment induces a new band near the negative pole, consistent with GH-promoted dephosphorylation of LAP. In addition, bands near the positive pole are rapidly and transiently induced, suggesting that GH also stimulates phosphorylation at some site(s) on LAP. C/EBPbeta contains a highly conserved MAPK consensus site that corresponds to Thr(188) in murine (m) LAP and Thr(37) in mLIP. Immunoblotting with antiphosphopeptide antibodies specific for Thr(188/37) of C/EBPbeta (anti-P-C/EBPbeta) shows that GH rapidly and transiently promotes phosphorylation of mLAP and mLIP on the MAPK site. MEK inhibitors prevent this GH-promoted phosphorylation of LAP and LIP, suggesting that such phosphorylation depends on GH-activated MAPK signaling. Mutation of Thr(235) to Ala in the homologous MAPK site of human (h) LAP (hLAPT235A) inhibits transcription mediated by the c-fos promoter in response to GH, indicating that phosphorylation at the MAPK site is required for LAP to be transcriptionally active in the context of GH-stimulated activation of the c-fos promoter. Complexes bound to the c-fos C/EBP site transiently contain C/EBPbeta phosphorylated at the MAPK site. As phosphorylation subsides, the binding of less transcriptionally active forms of LAP increases, consistent with the transient nature of c-fos stimulation by GH and other growth factors. Thus, both phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of C/EBPbeta, in response to a single physiological stimulus such as GH, coordinately modulate the ability of C/EBPbeta to activate transcription by modulating its DNA binding activity and its transactivation capacity.
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PMID:Dual regulation of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of C/EBPbeta modulate its transcriptional activation and DNA binding in response to growth hormone. 1221 25

WT1 encodes a zinc finger transcription factor implicated in normal development and tumorigenesis. Germline mutation or deletion of WT1 results in a spectrum of abnormal kidney development, male-to-female intersex disorders, and predisposition to pediatric nephroblastoma, Wilms tumor. Initially thought to encode a transcriptional repressor, WT1-dependent functions are now more clearly linked to its property as a transcriptional activator of genes involved in renal development and sex determination. WT1 is expressed in 4 isoforms as a result of 2 alternative messenger RNA splicing events, the more significant of which encodes the 3 amino acids lysine, threonine, and serine (KTS) between zinc fingers 3 and 4. Although WT1 isoforms lacking KTS act as sequence-specific DNA binding factors, a large body of evidence now implicates the KTS-containing isoforms in RNA processing. In keeping with distinct biochemical mechanisms for these isoforms, genetic data from humans and mice point to separate but partially overlapping roles for WT1 (+KTS) and (-KTS) during genitourinary development. Recently, a hematopoietic model system has been used to study functional properties of WT1 in vitro. WT1 expression in primary hematopoietic cells leads to stage-specific effects that may be relevant to WT1-mediated tumor suppression.
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PMID:Regulation of gene expression by WT1 in development and tumorigenesis. 1221 8

A natural amino acid substitution in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcriptional activator Tat increases its activity and compensates for deleterious mutations elsewhere in the Tat protein. Substitution of asparagine for threonine 23 increases Tat transactivation of the HIV-1 promoter and the binding of Tat to the cellular kinase positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb). Of nine other position 23 mutations tested, only the serine substitution retained wild-type activity. Correspondingly, asparagine is the most frequent amino acid at this position in HIV-1 isolates, followed by threonine and serine. Asparagine is prevalent in Tat proteins of viruses in clades A, C, and D, which are major etiologic agents of AIDS. We suggest that selection for asparagine in position 23 confers an advantage to the virus, since it can compensate for deleterious mutations in Tat. It may also support the replication of otherwise less fit drug-resistant viruses and permit the emergence of virulent strains.
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PMID:A naturally occurring substitution in human immunodeficiency virus Tat increases expression of the viral genome. 1285 33

The genome sequence of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) has revealed the presence of about 40 protein serine/threonine or tyrosine kinases. AfsK, which is able to phosphorylate AfsR, a transcriptional activator with ATPase activity, represents the first instance in which a bacterial Hanks-type protein kinase phosphorylates a specific protein and exerts biologically important functions. The AfsK-AfsR system in S. coelicolor A3(2) globally controls secondary metabolism. The signal transduction pathway so far demonstrated or suggested is as follows: AfsK loosely attached to the membrane autophosphorylates threonine and serine residues, perhaps on sensing some external stimulus, and enhances its kinase activity. The kinase activity is modulated by KbpA, an AfsK-binding protein, by means of protein-protein interactions. The activated AfsK phosphorylates threonine and serine residues of AfsR in the cytoplasm, by which the DNA-binding activity of AfsR is greatly enhanced. In addition to AfsK, other kinases-including PkaG and AfsL-also phosphorylate AfsR, suggesting that AfsR serves as an integrator of multiple signals sensed by these kinases. The phosphorylated AfsR binds the promoter of afsS, which encodes a protein of 63 amino acids, and forms a closed complex with RNA polymerase. The closed complex is then converted to a transcriptionally active open complex by the energy available from ATP hydrolysis by AfsR. AfsS induced in this way activates transcription of pathway-specific transcriptional activators, such as actII-ORF4 for actinorhodin production and redD for undecylprodigiosin, in an as yet unknown manner.
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PMID:AfsR as an integrator of signals that are sensed by multiple serine/threonine kinases in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). 1288 27

Recent studies have identified heat shock factor (HSF)-1, the predominant heat/stress-stimulated transcriptional activator of heat shock protein genes as a repressor of certain cytokine genes, including TNF-alpha and IL-1beta. We previously showed that exposing macrophages to febrile-range temperature (FRT; 39.5 degrees C) activates HSF-1 to a DNA binding form that does not activate heat shock protein gene transcription, but apparently represses TNF-alpha and IL-1beta transcription. Prewarming macrophages to 39.5 degrees C for 30 min prior to stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) does not change the induction of TNF-alpha transcription, but markedly reduces its duration. This raised the question of how TNF-alpha transcription could occur at all in the presence of activated HSF-1. We used RAW 264.7 cells to test the hypothesis that macrophage activation triggers a transient reversal of HSF-1-mediated repression, thereby allowing induction of TNF-alpha transcription. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that LPS triggers a transient inactivation of HSF-1 that temporally correlates with TNF-alpha transcription and was associated with a transient increase in HSF-1 molecular weight, a decrease in its pI, and appearance of HSF-1 phosphorylating activity. The serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor, calyculin A, blocked the inhibitory affect of FRT on LPS-induced TNF-alpha generation and prevented the re-activation of HSF-1. We propose that LPS stimulation of FRT-exposed macrophages stimulates a sequential phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of HSF-1, causing a cycle of inactivation and reactivation of HSF-1 repressor activity that allows a temporally-limited period of gene transcription.
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PMID:Bacterial endotoxin modifies heat shock factor-1 activity in RAW 264.7 cells: implications for TNF-alpha regulation during exposure to febrile range temperatures. 1519 52

Skeletal muscle adapts to different patterns of motor nerve activity by alterations in gene expression that match specialized properties of contraction, metabolism, and muscle mass to changing work demands (muscle plasticity). Calcineurin, a calcium/calmodulin-dependent, serine-threonine protein phosphatase, has been shown to control programs of gene expression in skeletal muscles, as in other cell types, through the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT). This study provides evidence that the function of NFAT as a transcriptional activator is regulated by neuromuscular stimulation in muscles of intact animals and that calcium influx from the transient receptor potential (TRPC3) channel is an important determinant of NFAT activity. Expression of TRPC3 channels in skeletal myocytes is up-regulated by neuromuscular activity in a calcineurin-dependent manner. These data suggest a mechanism for cellular memory in skeletal muscles whereby repeated bouts of contractile activity drive progressively greater remodeling events.
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PMID:TRPC3 channels confer cellular memory of recent neuromuscular activity. 1519 80


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