MCB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hemavathy, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ip, Y. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hemavathy, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ip, Y. T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2000, p. 5087-5095, Vol. 20, No. 14
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Human Slug Is a Repressor That Localizes to Sites of Active Transcription

Kirugaval Hemavathy,1 Siradanahalli C. Guru,2 John Harris,1 J. Don Chen,3 and Y. Tony Ip1,*

Program in Molecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology1 and Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Toxicology,3 University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, and Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 208922

Received 24 January 2000/Returned for modification 10 March 2000/Accepted 10 April 2000

Snail/Slug family proteins have been identified in diverse species of both vertebrates and invertebrates. The proteins contain four to six zinc fingers and function as DNA-binding transcriptional regulators. Various members of the family have been demonstrated to regulate cell movement, neural cell fate, left-right asymmetry, cell cycle, and apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms of how these regulators function and the target genes involved are largely unknown. In this report, we demonstrate that human Slug (hSlug) is a repressor and modulates both activator-dependent and basal transcription. The repression depends on the C-terminal DNA-binding zinc fingers and on a separable repression domain located in the N terminus. This domain may recruit histone deacetylases to modify the chromatin and effect repression. Protein localization study demonstrates that hSlug is present in discrete foci in the nucleus. This subnuclear pattern does not colocalize with the PML foci or the coiled bodies. Instead, the hSlug foci overlap extensively with areas of the SC-35 staining, some of which have been suggested to be sites of active splicing or transcription. These results lead us to postulate that hSlug localizes to target promoters, where activation occurs, to repress basal and activator-mediated transcription.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation St., Worcester, MA 01605. Phone: (508) 856-5136. Fax: (508) 856-4289. E-mail: Tony.Ip{at}umassmed.edu.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2000, p. 5087-5095, Vol. 20, No. 14
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.