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Mol. Cell. Biol., 07 1996, 3814-3824, Vol 16, No. 7
JD Molkentin, AB Firulli, BL Black, JF Martin, CM Hustad, N Copeland, N Jenkins, G Lyons and EN Olson
There are four members of the myocyte enhancer binding factor 2 (MEF2)
family of transcription factors, MEF2A, -B, -C, and -D, that have homology
within an amino-terminal MADS box and an adjacent MEF2 domain that together
mediate dimerization and DNA binding. MEF2A, -C, and -D have previously
been shown to bind an A/T-rich DNA sequence in the control regions of
numerous muscle-specific genes, whereas MEF2B was reported to be unable to
bind this sequence unless the carboxyl terminus was deleted. To further
define the functions of MEF2B, we analyzed its DNA binding and
transcriptional activities. In contrast to previous studies, our results
show that MEF2B binds the same DNA sequence as other members of the MEF2
family and acts as a strong transactivator through that sequence.
Transcriptional activation by MEF2B is dependent on the carboxyl terminus,
which contains two conserved sequence motifs found in all vertebrate MEF2
factors. During mouse embryogenesis, MEF2B transcripts are expressed in the
developing cardiac and skeletal muscle lineages in a temporospatial pattern
distinct from but overlapping with those of the other Mef2 genes. The mouse
Mef2b gene maps to chromosome 8 and is unlinked to other Mef2 genes; its
intron-exon organization is similar to that of the other vertebrate Mef2
genes and the single Drosophila Mef2 gene, consistent with the notion that
these different Mef2 genes evolved from a common ancestral gene.
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology
MEF2B is a potent transactivator expressed in early myogenic lineages
Hamon Center for Basic Cancer Research, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 75235-9148, YSA.
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