Developmental and tissue-specific expression of nuclear proteins that bind the regulatory element of the major histocompatibility complex class I gene. (original) (raw)

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Article| April 01 1989

P A Burke,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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S Hirschfeld,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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Y Shirayoshi,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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J W Kasik,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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K Hamada,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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E Appella,

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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K Ozato

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

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P A Burke, S Hirschfeld, Y Shirayoshi, J W Kasik, K Hamada, E Appella, K Ozato

Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

Online ISSN: 1540-9538

Print ISSN: 0022-1007

J Exp Med (1989) 169 (4): 1309–1321.

Expression of MHC class I genes varies according to developmental stage and type of tissues. To study the basis of class I gene regulation in tissues in vivo, we examined binding of nuclear proteins to the conserved cis sequence of the murine H-2 gene, class I regulatory element (CRE), which contains two independent factor-binding sites, region I and region II. In gel mobility shift analyses we found that extracts from adult tissues that express class I genes, such as spleen and liver, had binding activity to region I. In contrast, extracts from brain, which does not express class I genes, did not show region I binding activity. In addition, fetal tissues that express class I gene at very low levels, also did not reveal region I binding activity. Binding activity to region I became detectable during the neonatal period when class I gene expression sharply increases. Most of these tissues showed binding activity to region II, irrespective of class I gene expression. Although region II contained a sequence similar to the AP-1 recognition site, AP-1 was not responsible for the region II binding activity detected in this work. These results illustrate a correlation between region I binding activity and developmental and tissue-specific expression of MHC class I genes. The CRE exerts an enhancer-like activity in cultured fibroblasts. We evaluated the significance of each factor binding to CRE. Single 2-bp mutations were introduced into the CRE by site-directed mutagenesis and the ability of each mutant to elicit the enhancer activity was tested in transient CAT assays. A mutation that eliminated region I protein binding greatly impaired enhancer activity. A mutation that eliminated region II binding also caused a lesser but measurable effect. We conclude that region I and region II are both capable of enhancing transcription of the class I gene. These results indicate that in vivo regulation of MHC class I gene expression is mediated by binding of trans-acting factors to the CRE.

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