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Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 1999, p. 2936-2945, Vol. 19, No. 4
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

C/EBPalpha Regulates Formation of S-Phase-Specific E2F-p107 Complexes in Livers of Newborn Mice

Nikolai A. Timchenko,* Margie Wilde, and Gretchen J. Darlington

Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030

Received 24 September 1998/Returned for modification 9 November 1998/Accepted 21 January 1999

We previously showed that the rate of hepatocyte proliferation in livers from newborn C/EBPalpha knockout mice was increased. An examination of cell cycle-related proteins showed that the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21 level was reduced in the knockout animals compared to that in wild-type littermates. Here we show additional cell cycle-associated proteins that are affected by C/EBPalpha . We have observed that C/EBPalpha controls the composition of E2F complexes through interaction with the retinoblastoma (Rb)-like protein, p107, during prenatal liver development. S-phase-specific E2F complexes containing E2F, DP, cdk2, cyclin A, and p107 are observed in the developing liver. In wild-type animals these complexes disappear by day 18 of gestation and are no longer present in the newborn animals. In the C/EBPalpha mutant, the S-phase-specific complexes do not diminish and persist to birth. The elevation of levels of the S-phase-specific E2F-p107 complexes in C/EBPalpha knockout mice correlates with the increased expression of several E2F-dependent genes such as those that encode cyclin A, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and p107. The C/EBPalpha -mediated regulation of E2F binding is specific, since the deletion of another C/EBP family member, C/EBPbeta , does not change the pattern of E2F binding during prenatal liver development. The addition of bacterially expressed, purified His-C/EBPalpha to the E2F binding reaction resulted in the disruption of E2F complexes containing p107 in nuclear extracts from C/EBPalpha knockout mouse livers. Ectopic expression of C/EBPalpha in cultured cells also leads to a reduction of E2F complexes containing Rb family proteins. Coimmunoprecipitation analyses revealed an interaction of C/EBPalpha with p107 but none with cdk2, E2F1, or cyclin A. A region of C/EBPalpha that has sequence similarity to E2F is sufficient for the disruption of the E2F-p107 complexes. Despite its role as a DNA binding protein, C/EBPalpha brings about a change in E2F complex composition through a protein-protein interaction. The disruption of E2F-p107 complexes correlates with C/EBPalpha -mediated growth arrest of hepatocytes in newborn animals.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 770-2206. Fax: (713) 770-1032. E-mail: nikolait{at}bcm.tmc.edu.


Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 1999, p. 2936-2945, Vol. 19, No. 4
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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