Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 2001, p. 524-533, Vol. 21, No. 2
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.2.524-533.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, The Medical School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH,1 Cancer Research Campaign Department of Gene Regulation, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Manchester M20 9BX,2 and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ,3 United Kingdom
Received 26 October 2000/Accepted 1 November 2000
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ABSTRACT |
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The Id subfamily of helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins plays a fundamental role in the regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation. The major mechanism by which Id proteins are thought to inhibit differentiation is through interaction with other HLH proteins and inhibition of their DNA-binding activity. However, Id proteins have also been shown to interact with other proteins involved in regulating cellular proliferation and differentiation, suggesting a more widespread regulatory function. In this study we demonstrate functional interactions between Id proteins and members of the Pax-2/-5/-8 subfamily of paired-domain transcription factors. Members of the Pax transcription factor family have key functions in regulating several developmental processes exemplified by B lymphopoiesis, in which Pax-5 plays an essential role. Id proteins bind to Pax proteins in vitro and in vivo. Binding occurs through the paired DNA-binding domain of the Pax proteins and results in the disruption of DNA-bound complexes containing Pax-2, Pax-5, and Pax-8. In vivo, Id proteins modulate the transcriptional activity mediated by Pax-5 complexes on the B-cell-specific mb-1 promoter. Our results therefore demonstrate a novel facet of Id function in regulating cellular differentiation by functionally antagonizing the action of members of the Pax transcription factor family.
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INTRODUCTION |
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Members of the Id subfamily of helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins play important roles in promoting cell cycle entry, enhancing apoptosis, stimulating proliferation, and blocking cellular differentiation (reviewed in references 21, 28, and 30). The founding member of this subfamily, Idl, was originally identified as a protein that inhibits the DNA-binding activity of basic HLH (bHLH) proteins (4). Subsequently, three further genes that encode the related proteins Id2 (5, 41), Id3 (8, 11), and Id4 (35) were identified. Like Id1, the other Id proteins (Id2, Id3, and Id4) also inhibit DNA binding by bHLH proteins (reviewed in references 21, 28, and 30). Mechanistically, the Id proteins are thought to inhibit bHLH proteins by sequestering them in inactive heterodimers which are incapable of DNA binding due to the absence of the basic region in the Id proteins (4, 41; reviewed in references 21, 28, and 30). In addition to their association with bHLH transcription factors, Id proteins have also been shown to interact with several non-HLH proteins, including the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) and related pocket proteins (19, 22, 23), MIDA1 (20, 38), and, more recently, members of the TCF subfamily of ETS-domain transcription factors (48). Id proteins inhibit DNA binding by the TCF proteins through interaction with their ETS DNA-binding domains. This interaction also leads to the dissociation of TCFs from ternary TCF-SRF-SRE complexes and hence to the inhibition of c-fos promoter activity (48).
A subset of ETS-domain transcription factors, including Elk-1, can also form ternary complexes with the paired-domain transcription factor Pax-5 and the B-cell-specific mb-1 promoter (15). In this case, Pax-5, rather than SRF, serves to recruit the ETS-domain proteins to the promoter. Pax-5 is a member of a subfamily of Pax proteins which also contains Pax-2 and Pax-8 (reviewed in references 25 and 40). This subfamily is characterized by the presence of an octapeptide motif and a partial homeodomain in addition to the N-terminal paired DNA-binding domain. Pax-5 plays an important role in regulating B-cell development (reviewed in references 7 and 27). Several target genes have been identified, which are either up-regulated (mb-1, N-myc, and LEF-1) or down-regulated (PD-1) in keeping with the observation that Pax-5 can function as both a transcriptional activator and repressor. In the case of the mb-1 and LEF-1 genes, the paired domain of Pax-5 is sufficient to up-regulate their expression (31).
As Id proteins are also expressed during B-cell development and function as negative regulators of B lymphopoiesis (9, 41, 42, 44), we tested whether Id proteins could affect the activity of ETS-domain protein complexes that form on the mb-1 promoter. By analogy with the ternary complex that forms on the c-fos SRE, it was expected that Id-mediated dissociation of the ETS-domain protein component might be observed. However, DNA binding by Pax-5, in addition to that by Elk-1, is inhibited upon addition of Id proteins to ternary Pax-5-Elk-1-mb-1 complexes. Id proteins bind directly to Pax-5 in vitro and in vivo, and this leads to down-regulation of the activity of Pax-5-Elk-1-mb-1 complexes in vivo. Other members of the Pax-2/-5/-8 subfamily are also targets of the Id proteins. Collectively, our data reveal a novel facet of Id function in regulating the activity of an additional class of transcription factors, the Pax proteins.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Plasmid constructs.
The following plasmids were used for
expressing glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion and
C-terminal six-histidine-tagged proteins in Escherichia
coli. pAS413 encodes full-length Elk-1 (amino acids 1 to 428)
(24). pGEX-Id2 encodes GST-Id2 (Id2 amino acids 1 to 134 fused to GST) (12). pAS801 [encoding GST-Pax-5(1-149)] was constructed by PCR amplification from pREP4-BSAP (2; kindly provided by Ben Adams) using the oligonucleotide pair ADS578-ADS579, followed by ligation as a BglII-EcoRI fragment
into the same sites of pGEX-2T (Pharmacia). pGEX-Id2
HLH was
constructed by PCR and comprises the N-terminal 43 amino acids and
C-terminal 69 amino acids from Id2 fused to GST.
95 to
58) upstream from the chloramphenicol
acetyltransferase (CAT) gene and was constructed by ligating two copies
of the annealed oligonucleotide pair ADS580 and ADS581
(5'-TCGACGAGTAAGGGCCACTGGAGCCCATCTCCGGCACGGC-3' and
5'-TCGAGCCGTGCCGGAGATGGGCTCCAGTGGCCCTTACTCG-3',
respectively) into the SalI-XhoI sites of
pBLCAT5 (pAS311) (6). pAS383 encodes full-length Flag
epitope-tagged Elk-1 driven by a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter
(46). pRSV.Elk-1-VP16 (pAS348) encodes full-length Elk-1
fused to the VP16 transcriptional activation domain (34). pAS1111 encodes full-length Pax-5 driven by a CMV promoter (26; kindly
provided by Peter Gruss). pAS1120 (encoding CMV-driven Flag
epitope-tagged full-length Pax-5) was constructed by ligating a
HindIII fragment from pAS1106 into pcDNA3 cut with the
same enzymes. pAS1106 (encoding T3-promoter driven Flag epitope-tagged full-length Pax-5) was constructed by lighting an
XbaI-XhoI-cleaved PCR fragment (primer pair
ADS582-ADS583 on the template pREP4-BSAP) into the same sites in pAS798
(43).
The following plasmids were used for in vitro transcription and
translation and/or transfection purposes. pBluescript-NF-
B(p50) (encoding the p50 subunit of NF-
B) was obtained through the AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of
Health, from Gary Nabel and Neil Perkins. pcDNA3Id1 (encoding full-length Id1; amino acids 1 to 148), pcDNA3Id2 (encoding full-length Id2; amino acids 1 to 134), pcDNA3Id3 (encoding full-length Id3; amino
acids 1 to 119) (26), pAS68 [encoding MEF2A(1-86)]
(39), pAS522 (encoding full-length MEF2A)
(47), and pT7.SAP-1 (encoding full-length SAP-1; amino
acids 1 to 431) (10) have been described previously.
pAS803 (encoding full-length Pax-5; amino acids 1 to 391) was
constructed by ligating a
HindIII-XbaI-cleaved PCR fragment (primers
ADS448 and ADS449 and template pREP4-BSAP) into the same sites in pAS37
(36). pAS1106, pAS1107, pAS1113, and pAS1114 (encoding
full-length Pax-5 [amino acids 1 to 391], Pax-5 amino acids 1 to 175, Pax-2 amino acids 1 to 175, and Pax-8 amino acids 1 to 175, respectively, fused to a C-terminal six-histidine tag and Flag tags)
were constructed by ligating XbaI-XhoI-cleaved PCR fragments (primers ADS582-ADS583, ADS582-ADS584, ADS608-ADS609, and
ADS610-ADS611 and templates pREP4-BSAP, pREP4-BSAP, pCMVPax2, and
pCMVPax8, respectively) into the same sites in pAS798
(43). Pax-5 constructs used in this study were derived
from human cDNAs, whereas Pax-2 and Pax-8 constructs were derived from
mouse cDNAs.
Protein expression. In vitro-translated proteins, GST fusion proteins, and six-histidine-tagged proteins were purified, and their concentrations were determined as described previously (48). Pax-5(1-175) was generated by in vitro transcription and translation using NaeI-linearized pAS803 as a template. For use in gel retardation assays, Pax-5(1-149) was cleaved from the GST moiety with thrombin while still attached to the reduced glutathione agarose beads (1).
In vitro protein-protein interaction assays. Interactions between GST-Id2 and in vitro-translated Pax-2/-5/-8 derivatives or control proteins were investigated using pulldown assays as previously described (39).
Gel retardation assays. Gel retardation assays were performed with 32P-labeled probes as described previously (37). The binding sites used include the mb-1 site for Pax-containing complexes (ADS576-ADS577 top strand, 5'-CGCGTGAGTAAGGGCCACTGGAGCCCATCTCCGGCACGG-3') and the N10 site for MEF2A (36). DNA-protein complexes were formed at room temperature for 15 min using in vitro-translated or recombinant, bacterially expressed Pax-2/-5/-8 derivatives, in vitro-translated MEF2A(1-86), and bacterially expressed full-length Elk-1. In vitro-translated Id proteins were usually added at the same time as the Pax proteins or after the end of this incubation period in dissociation experiments. Reaction mixtures were normalized for reticulocyte lysate content. Protein-DNA complexes were analyzed on nondenaturing 5% polyacrylamide gels cast in 0.5× Tris-borate-EDTA buffer and visualized by autoradiography and phosphorimaging.
Cell culture, transfection, and reporter gene assays. NIH 3T3 and Cos-7 cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Gibco BRL) and 25 mM glucose. Transfection experiments were carried out using Superfect (Qiagen) as described previously (48) or by electroporation (PD31 cells). For reporter gene assays, mb-1 promoter-driven reporters were cotransfected alongside vectors encoding Pax-5, Elk-1-VP16, and Id2. DNA concentrations were normalized with appropriate empty vectors.
Extracts were prepared from transfected cells, and CAT-luciferase assays were carried out as previously described (24, 48). Results were normalized for equal concentrations of total protein. Data from CAT assays were quantified by phosphorimager analysis, and the data were presented graphically using Microsoft Excel software. Transfection efficiency was monitored by measuring the
-galactosidase activity from cotransfected pCH110 plasmid (0.5 µg)
(Pharmacia KB Biotechnology Inc.), and
-galactosidase activities were determined as described previously (48).
Immunoprecipitation.
The antibody matrix was prepared by
covalently coupling an Id3-specific rabbit polyclonal antibody (Santa
Cruz Biotechnology Inc.) to protein A beads. Cos-7 cell extracts
containing overexpressed Id3 and Flag-tagged Pax-5 or Elk-1 proteins
were prepared from two 35-mm-diameter dishes in 400 µl of Triton
lysis buffer (20 mM Tris [pH 7.4], 137 mM sodium chloride, 25 mM
-glycerophosphate, 50 mM sodium fluoride, 2 mM EDTA, 10% glycerol,
1% Triton X-100, 2 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 10 mM MgCl2)
containing protease inhibitors (final concentrations: leupeptin, 2 µg/ml; pepstatin A, 1 µg/ml; phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 100 µg/ml; and aprotinin, 2 µg/ml). A 25-µl sample of antibody matrix
was incubated with the cell extract with rotation for 4 h at
4°C. Complexes were washed three times with Triton lysis buffer and
subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
followed by Western blot analysis. Immunoprecipitated Flag
epitope-tagged proteins and Id3 were detected by immunoblot analysis
with a mouse monoclonal anti-M2 Flag antibody (Kodak) and polyclonal
Id3 antibody (Santa Cruz) followed by enhanced chemiluminescence
(Amersham) as described previously (48). Endogenous
Id3-Pax-5 complexes were coimmunoprecipitated from approximately
108 Nalm-6 pre-B cells after lysis in 20 ml of Triton lysis
buffer (above) supplemented with 0.4 M NaCl. Immunoprecipitates were prepared by incubating the lysate with 10 µg of anti-Id3 antibody immobilized on protein A-Sepharose and then were subjected to Western
analysis with Pax-5 antibody (sc-1974; Santa Cruz)
Figure generation. Figures were generated electronically from scanned images of autoradiographic images by using Picture Publisher (Micrografix) and Powerpoint 7.0 (Microsoft) software. Results are representative of the original autoradiographic images.
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RESULTS |
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Id3 inhibits the formation of binary and ternary DNA-bound Pax-5 complexes. Id proteins have previously been demonstrated to cause the dissociation of the TCF component of the ternary TCF-SRF-SRE complex that forms on the c-fos promoter (48). A subset of the TCFs, among other ETS-domain proteins, form ternary complexes with Pax-5 on the B-cell-specific mb-1 promoter (15). We therefore investigated whether the Id proteins could cause the dissociation of the TCF Elk-1 from this ternary complex.
Elk-1 is unable to efficiently bind to the mb-1 site on its own (Fig. 1A, lane 2) but can be recruited by a C-terminally truncated derivative of Pax-5, Pax-5(1-175) (Fig. 1A, lane 3). Similarly, the truncated Pax-5 derivative Pax-5(1-149) is also able to recruit Elk-1 to the mb-1 site (Fig. 1A, lanes 4 to 6) (15). Pax-5(1-149) contains just the paired domain and lacks additional C-terminal sequences (Fig. 1D). In the results presented below, the experiments were subsequently carried out with in vitro-translated Pax-5(1-175). However, virtually identical results were produced using recombinant Pax-5(1-149).
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Specificity of Id-mediated inhibition of nucleoprotein complex
formation by Pax-5.
In addition to Id3, the related proteins Id1
and Id2 are also expressed in B cells (9) and might
therefore have a role in regulating Pax-5 binding to the
mb-1 promoter. We therefore tested whether these additional
Id proteins inhibit DNA binding by binary Pax-5 and ternary
Elk-1-Pax-5-containing complexes. As observed with Id3 (Fig. 1B and
2A, lane 6), both Id1 and Id2 inhibit the
formation of both binary and ternary complexes containing Pax-5 (Fig.
2A, lanes 4 and 5, respectively). In order to compare the relative
abilities of Id1, Id2, and Id3 to inhibit DNA binding by Pax-5, the
amount of each Id protein added to the DNA-binding reactions was varied
(Fig. 2B). Of these proteins, Id1 was the most potent (lanes 1 to 5),
while Id3 (lanes 11 to 15) and Id2 (lanes 6 to 10) were both less
efficient at inhibiting DNA binding by Pax-5. Subsequently, to test
whether the inhibitory effect of the Id proteins was specific, we
compared the ability of the Id's to inhibit DNA binding by Pax-5 and
the MADS-box transcription factor MEF2A. In contrast to the effect of
the Id proteins on DNA binding by Pax-5, no inhibition of DNA binding
by MEF2A was observed upon addition of Id1, Id2, or Id3 (Fig. 2C).
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The Id proteins inhibit DNA binding by all members of the
Pax-2/-5/-8 subfamily.
Two other proteins, Pax-2 and Pax-8,
exhibit a high degree of sequence and functional similarity to Pax-5,
which is especially pronounced within the paired DNA- binding domains
(40). The ability of the Id proteins to inhibit
nucleoprotein complex formation by Pax-2 and Pax-8 was therefore
investigated. All three members of the Pax-2/-5/-8 subfamily can bind
to the mb-1 site, albeit with reduced efficiency in the case of Pax-8
(Fig. 3A, lanes 1, 5, and 9). Similarly,
all three Pax proteins can form ternary complexes with Elk-1 on this
element (Fig. 3A, lanes 3, 7, and 11). Furthermore, upon addition of
Id2, a reduction in the efficiency of binary and ternary complex
formation involving each Pax protein could be observed (Fig. 3A, lanes
4, 8, and 12). Of the proteins tested, the efficiency of inhibition by
Id2 increased, Pax-8 < Pax-2 < Pax-5, with Pax-8 complexes
being inhibited the least.
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Id2 causes rapid dissociation of Pax-5-DNA complexes.
DNA
binding by Pax-5 is inhibited upon prior incubation with Id proteins.
To investigate whether Id proteins can dissociate preformed DNA-bound
Pax-5 complexes, a time course experiment was performed in which Id
proteins were added to binding reactions once they had reached
equilibrium, and samples were subsequently analyzed over a 10-min time
period (Fig. 4A). Rapid dissociation of
the Pax-5-DNA complex was observed within 1 min of Id2 addition (Fig.
4B, lane 2), whereas no change in the intensity of the Pax-5-DNA complex could be observed in the absence of added Id2 over the same
time period (Fig. 4B, lanes 7 to 10). Id2 is therefore capable of
causing rapid dissociation of Pax-5-DNA complexes.
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Id proteins interact with Pax-5 in vitro and in vivo.
As the
Id proteins inhibit DNA binding by Pax-5 and other members of the
Pax-2/-5/-8 subgroup, it is likely that the two classes of protein
interact directly. To test whether these proteins do indeed interact,
the binding of in vitro-translated Pax-5 to a GST-Id2 fusion protein
was investigated (Fig. 5A). Both
full-length Pax-5 (lane 5) and Pax-5(1-175) (lane 6) bind to GST-Id2,
indicating that the paired-box DNA-binding domain of Pax-5 is
sufficient for binding to Id2. This is consistent with the DNA-binding
studies, which demonstrate that the paired box is the target for
the inhibitory activity of the Id proteins. Subsequently, the binding
of Pax-2 and Pax-8 to GST-Id2 was investigated (Fig. 5B). As observed
with Pax-5 (lane 8), both Pax-2 (lane 7) and Pax-8 (lane 9) also bind to Id2. In order to test whether the interaction of the Id proteins with Pax proteins was specific, we compared the ability of Id2 to bind
to Pax-5, SAP-1 (a known interaction partner) (48), and
two members of alternative transcription factor families, MEF2A and
NF-
B(p50) (Fig. 5C). Both Pax-5 and SAP-1 bind efficiently to Id2
(lanes 5 and 8). However, in contrast, little binding of MEF2A and
NF-
B(p50) was observed (lanes 6 and 7), indicating that Id2
interacts specifically with members of the Pax and ETS-domain transcription factor families. To further demonstrate the specificity of Id binding and to map the domain requirements, we tested the role of
the HLH motif in Id2 for Pax-5 binding. In contract to wild-type Id2,
no binding of Pax-5 to Id2
HLH was observed (Fig. 5D). Thus, although
Id2
HLH retains part of its biological activity (16),
this protein is unable to interact with Pax-5, thereby demonstrating a
requirement for the HLH motif.
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Id3 inhibits Pax-5-mediated transcriptional activation in
vivo.
The mb-1 promoter is regulated by a ternary
complex that is composed of the protein components Pax-5 and a subset
of ETS-domain transcription factors (15). In order to
generate a highly active ternary complex in vivo in the absence of
additional regulatory cues, we used a fusion protein consisting of the
ETS-domain transcription factor Elk-1 and the potent VP16 transcription
activation domain. This has previously been shown to be recruited to
the c-fos SRE by binding to SRF to allow high-level
transcriptional activation in vivo (24, 34). In order to
demonstrate that Pax-5 could act in a similar manner to recruit
Elk-1-VP16 to the mb-1 site in vivo, cotransfection experiments were
carried out in NIH 3T3 cells with vectors encoding Pax-5 and
Elk-1-VP16 and a reporter vector containing two copies of the mb-1
site fused to a basal thymidine kinase promoter and a CAT gene (Fig.
7A). When either Pax-5 or Elk-1-VP16 was
expressed alone, low levels of mb-1-CAT reporter gene induction were
observed (twofold and fivefold, respectively, relative to induction by
the reporter alone; Fig. 7B). In contrast, coexpression of the two
proteins caused synergistic transcriptional activation (74-fold; Fig.
7B), demonstrating that Pax-5 does indeed recruit Elk-1-VP16 to the
mb-1 promoter in vivo.
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DISCUSSION |
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The Id proteins act as key regulators of cell fate determination (reviewed in references 21, 28, and 30). Several molecular targets for Id proteins have been identified. In this study we demonstrate that Pax transcription factors represent novel targets for Id-mediated inhibition. Id proteins bind to the paired DNA-binding domain of members of the Pax-2/-5/-8 subfamily and disrupt their ability to bind DNA. Interaction of Id proteins with Pax proteins results in the inhibition of promoters regulated by Pax complexes in vivo. As Pax proteins themselves are also involved in regulating cellular proliferation and differentiation, this study provides novel insights into mechanisms by which these processes might be controlled at the molecular level.
Molecular targets of Id proteins.
Until recently, it was
thought that Id proteins function by acting in a dominant-negative
manner to sequester bHLH proteins away from their DNA targets (reviewed
in references 21, 28, and 30). However, while this clearly represents a
major mechanism of their action, recent studies have demonstrated that
Id proteins can also bind to and alter the activities of a diverse set
of regulatory proteins, including pRB and other pocket domain proteins (19, 22, 23), MIDA1 (20, 38), and the TCF
subfamily of ETS-domain transcription factors (48). Pax-5
and the related proteins Pax-2 and Pax-8 can now be added to this list.
However, the action of the Id proteins is not pleiotropic. Id proteins do not affect DNA binding by the MADS-box transcription factors SRF
(48) or MEF2A (Fig. 2C). Furthermore, Id proteins do not efficiently interact with MEF2A or NF-
B(p50) (Fig. 5C). The latter case is substantiated by the observation that the activity of NF-
B-regulated promoters is not inhibited by Id proteins
(44). However, it appears increasingly likely that
additional molecular targets for the Id proteins might exist.
Role of Id-Pax protein interactions in vivo. Pax-5 plays a major role in regulating B-cell development (reviewed in references 7 and 27), whereas Pax-2 and Pax-8 are thought to be involved in kidney development (reviewed in reference 25). Significantly, Id proteins are also expressed in the B-cell lineage (9, 42, 44) and their expression levels vary during the differentiation program. Furthermore, overexpression of Id1 in transgenic mice impairs B-cell development (42). This effect was attributed to direct Id-mediated antagonism of bHLH proteins, although due to the abolition of Pax-5 expression in these transgenic mice, possible effects of Id proteins on the activity of Pax-5 during later stages of B-cell development could not be inferred. Our results indicate that as the relative stoichiometries of Pax-5 and Id proteins vary during B-cell development, then the inhibitory effects of the Id proteins are likely to also vary, thus providing a subtle mechanism for regulating the activity of Pax-5 in the B-cell differentiation program. Furthermore, as Id proteins also interact with bHLH proteins, pRb, and ETS-domain proteins (reviewed in reference 28), the relative abundance of each of these is likely to play an important role in fine-tuning the response to Id proteins. This may be particularly significant for cells expressing a functional excess of Id protein in which cellular pools of bHLH E proteins, with which Id proteins interact most avidly, exist in an Id-bHLH heterodimeric state. Further complexities arise due to fluctuating levels of Id proteins during the cell cycle (3, 8, 11). This is likely to manifest in differential effects of Id-mediated inhibition of Pax protein activity at different points during cell cycle progression. In addition, cell cycle-regulated Cdk-2-dependent phosphorylation of Id proteins is known to dramatically alter their affinities and specificities of interactions with bHLH proteins (12, 19). It is currently unknown whether the same applies to Id interactions with other classes of transcription factors. However, taken together, the available data are consistent with a dynamic situation in vivo, in which regulated exchange of Id partner proteins might represent a key regulatory step.
Similarly, the interaction of Id proteins with Pax-2 and Pax-8 in kidney cells is likely to affect their activity towards key target genes such as WT-1 (13, 14, 17) and hence also kidney development. Thus, Id-Pax protein interactions are likely to be of critical importance in regulating gene expression and the decision between proliferation and differentiation in several cell lineages and developmental programs in which these genes have been implicated (25, 28, 30). In summary, we have demonstrated physical and functional interactions between Id proteins and Pax transcription factors. Interactions with Id proteins leads to a loss of DNA binding by Pax proteins and hence to down-regulation of their target promoters. A novel role of Id proteins has therefore been uncovered in regulating the activity of Pax transcription factors, which has implications for several important cellular processes.| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank Margaret Bell, Linda Shore, Kelly Warrington, and Luke Peterson for excellent technical assistance and Katherine Stewart for secretarial assistance. We also thank Bob Liddell for DNA sequencing and Ben Adams, Peter Gruss, Neil Perkins, and Richard Treisman for reagents. We are grateful to Julie Stinson and Shen-Hsi Yang for comments on the manuscript and members of our laboratory for helpful discussions.
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust, the UK Cancer Research Campaign (CRC), and an MRC studentship to E.C.R. A.D.S. is a Research Fellow of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Present address: School of Biological Sciences, Stopford Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom. Phone: 0044-161 275 5979. Fax: 0044-161 275 5082. E-mail: a.d.sharrocks{at}man.ac.uk.
Present address: Cardiff School of Biosciences, University of
Cardiff, Cardiff CF1 3US, United Kingdom.
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