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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 1999, p. 8281-8291, Vol. 19, No. 12
Department of Internal Medicine and
Therapeutics1 and Department of
Nutrition and Physiological Chemistry,2
Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita 565-0871, Japan
Received 25 March 1999/Returned for modification 20 May
1999/Accepted 16 August 1999
Pax4 is a paired-domain (PD)-containing transcription factor which
plays a crucial role in pancreatic
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Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification of a Portable Repression Domain and an
E1A-Responsive Activation Domain in Pax4: a Possible Role of Pax4
as a Transcriptional Repressor in the Pancreas
/
-cell
development. In this study, we characterized the DNA-binding and
transactivation properties of mouse Pax4. Repetitive
rounds of PCR-based selection led to identification of the optimal
DNA-binding sequences for the PD of Pax4. In agreement with the
conservation of the optimal binding sequences among the Pax family
transcription factors, Pax4 could bind to the potential binding
sites for Pax6, another member of the Pax family also involved in
endocrine pancreas development. The overexpression of Pax4 in HIT-T15
cells dose dependently inhibited the basal transcriptional activity as
well as Pax6-induced activity. Detailed domain mapping analyses using
GAL4-Pax4 chimeras revealed that the C-terminal region of Pax4 contains
both activation and repression domains. The activation domain was
active in the embryonic kidney-derived 293/293T cells and
embryonal carcinoma-derived F9 cells, containing adenoviral E1A protein
or E1A-like activity, respectively but was inactive or very weakly
active in other cells including those of pancreatic
- and
-cell
origin. Indeed, the exogenous overexpression of type 13S E1A in
heterologous cell types could convert the activation domain to an
active one. On the other hand, the repression domain was active
regardless of the cell type. When the repression domain was linked
to the transactivation domain of a heterologous transcription factor,
PDX-1, it could completely abolish the transactivation potential of
PDX-1. These observations suggest a primary role of Pax4 as a
transcriptional repressor whose function may involve the competitive
inhibition of Pax6 function. The identification of the E1A-responsive
transactivation domain, however, indicates that the function of Pax4 is
subject to posttranslational regulation, providing further support for the complexity of mechanisms that regulate pancreas development.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, A8, Osaka University Graduate
School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Pref. 565-0871, Japan. Phone: (81-6) 6879-3633. Fax: (81-6) 6879-3639. E-mail: kajimoto{at}medone.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
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