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 Wu, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Patterson, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wu, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Patterson, C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2003, p. 5680-5691, Vol. 23, No. 16
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.16.5680-5691.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

HoxB5 Is an Upstream Transcriptional Switch for Differentiation of the Vascular Endothelium from Precursor Cells

Yaxu Wu,1 Martin Moser,1 Victoria L. Bautch,1,2 and Cam Patterson1,2,3,4,5*

Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center,1 Departments of Biology,2 Medicine,3 Cell and Developmental Biology,4 Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 275995

Received 19 March 2003/ Returned for modification 17 April 2003/ Accepted 20 May 2003

Endothelial cells differentiate from mesoderm-derived precursors to initiate the earliest events in vascular development. Although the signaling events that regulate the successive steps of vascular development are known in some detail, the transcriptional processes that regulate the first steps in vasculogenesis are not well defined. We have studied the regulatory mechanisms of flk1 expression as a model to understand the upstream events in endothelial cell differentiation, since flk1 is the earliest marker of endothelial precursors. Using a variety of biochemical approaches, we identified a cis-acting element in the first intron of the flk1 gene that is required for endothelium-dependent expression in transgenic reporter gene assays. Using the yeast one-hybrid system, we identified HoxB5 as the transcription factor that binds this cis-acting element, the HoxB5-binding element (HBE). HoxB5 mRNA colocalized with flk1 expression in differentiating embryoid bodies, and HoxB5 potently transactivated the flk1 promoter in an HBE-dependent fashion in transient-transfection assays. Overexpression of HoxB5 led to expansion of flk1+ angioblasts in differentiating embryoid bodies and increased the number of PECAM (platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule)-positive primitive blood vessels. HoxB5 is necessary and sufficient to activate the cell-intrinsic events that regulate the differentiation of angioblasts and mature endothelial cells from their mesoderm-derived precursors.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 5109C Neurosciences Research Bldg., 103 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7126. Phone: (919) 843-6477. Fax: (919) 966-1743. E-mail: cpatters{at}med.unc.edu.


Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2003, p. 5680-5691, Vol. 23, No. 16
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.16.5680-5691.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Winnik, S., Klinkert, M., Kurz, H., Zoeller, C., Heinke, J., Wu, Y., Bode, C., Patterson, C., Moser, M. (2009). HoxB5 induces endothelial sprouting in vitro and modifies intussusceptive angiogenesis in vivo involving angiopoietin-2. Cardiovasc Res 83: 558-565 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jin, S.-W., Patterson, C. (2009). The Opening Act: Vasculogenesis and the Origins of Circulation. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 29: 623-629 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, C., Faloon, P. W., Tan, Z., Lv, Y., Zhang, P., Ge, Y., Deng, H., Xiong, J.-W. (2007). Mouse lysocardiolipin acyltransferase controls the development of hematopoietic and endothelial lineages during in vitro embryonic stem-cell differentiation. Blood 110: 3601-3609 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bandyopadhyay, S., Ashraf, M. Z., Daher, P., Howe, P. H., DiCorleto, P. E. (2007). HOXA9 Participates in the Transcriptional Activation of E-Selectin in Endothelial Cells. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 4207-4216 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Diehl, F., Rossig, L., Zeiher, A. M., Dimmeler, S., Urbich, C. (2007). The histone methyltransferase MLL is an upstream regulator of endothelial-cell sprout formation. Blood 109: 1472-1478 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Abe, M., Sato, Y. (2006). Puromycin insensitive leucyl-specific aminopeptidase (PILSAP) is required for the development of vascular as well as hematopoietic system in embryoid bodies.. GENES CELLS 11: 719-729 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, H., Charles, P. C., Wu, Y., Ren, R., Pi, X., Moser, M., Barshishat-Kupper, M., Rubin, J. S., Perou, C., Bautch, V., Patterson, C. (2006). Gene Expression Profile Signatures Indicate a Role for Wnt Signaling in Endothelial Commitment From Embryonic Stem Cells. Circ. Res. 98: 1331-1339 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Licht, A. H., Muller-Holtkamp, F., Flamme, I., Breier, G. (2006). Inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor activity in endothelial cells disrupts embryonic cardiovascular development. Blood 107: 584-590 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ferguson, J.E. III, Kelley, R. W., Patterson, C. (2005). Mechanisms of Endothelial Differentiation in Embryonic Vasculogenesis. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 25: 2246-2254 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rossig, L., Urbich, C., Bruhl, T., Dernbach, E., Heeschen, C., Chavakis, E., Sasaki, K.-i., Aicher, D., Diehl, F., Seeger, F., Potente, M., Aicher, A., Zanetta, L., Dejana, E., Zeiher, A. M., Dimmeler, S. (2005). Histone deacetylase activity is essential for the expression of HoxA9 and for endothelial commitment of progenitor cells. JEM 201: 1825-1835 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wu, J., Iwata, F., Grass, J. A., Osborne, C. S., Elnitski, L., Fraser, P., Ohneda, O., Yamamoto, M., Bresnick, E. H. (2005). Molecular Determinants of NOTCH4 Transcription in Vascular Endothelium. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 1458-1474 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Patel, S., Leal, A. D., Gorski, D. H. (2005). The Homeobox Gene Gax Inhibits Angiogenesis through Inhibition of Nuclear Factor-{kappa}B-Dependent Endothelial Cell Gene Expression. Cancer Res. 65: 1414-1424 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Downs, K. M., Hellman, E. R., McHugh, J., Barrickman, K., Inman, K. E. (2004). Investigation into a role for the primitive streak in development of the murine allantois. Development 131: 37-55 [Abstract] [Full Text]