A novel 7-nucleotide motif located in 3' untranslated sequences of the immediate-early gene set mediates platelet-derived growth factor induction of the JE gene

Serum response elements mediate protein kinase C dependent transcriptional induction of early growth response gene-1 by arginine vasopressin in rat mesangial cells

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) regulates glomerular hemodynamics, alters extracellular matrix production, and induces proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells (MCs). Therefore, AVP may play a role in glomerular sclerosis and the progression of chronic renal failure. To investigate changes in early gene expression which may link intracellular biochemical events with changes in MC phenotype following AVP stimulation, we studied expression of the Early growth response gene-1 (Egr-1). Nuclear run off assays demonstrate that AVP induces Egr-1 at the transcriptional level. Transcriptional induction was, like induction of mitogenesis, dependent upon activation of protein kinase C (PK C). Promoter deletion analysis revealed that the region critical for Egr-1 inducibility by AVP contained several serum response element (SRE) consensus sequences. Sequential deletion of these SREs led to a drop in AVP-stimulated promoter activity. AVP was also able to stimulate transcription from a construct containing an Egr-1 SRE upstream of a heterologous promoter and this effect required activation of PK C. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays, using an Egr-1 SRE as probe, demonstrate up to four protein-SRE complexes of differing size that undergo modest quantitative changes following AVP stimulation. These data in MCs suggest that upstream SREs mediate transcriptional induction of Egr-1 by AVP in a PK C-dependent fashion and that changes in DNA-protein interaction involving the SREs may be in part responsible for this effect.

Differential regulation of the JE gene encoding the monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1) in cervical carcinoma cells and derived hybrids

Malignant human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18)-positive cervical carcinoma cells can be reverted to a nonmalignant phenotype by generation of somatic cell hybrids with normal human fibroblasts. Although nontumorigenic hybrids, their tumorigenic segregants, and the parental HeLa cells have similar in vitro properties, inoculation only of nontumorigenic cells into nude mice results in a selective suppression of HPV18 transcription which precedes cessation of cellular growth. Our present study, aimed at understanding the differential regulation in vitro and in vivo, shows that the JE gene, encoding the monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1), is expressed only in nontumorigenic hybrids. Although the gene, including its regulatory region, is intact, no JE (MCP-1) mRNA is detected in the tumorigenic segregants and in other malignant HPV-positive cervical carcinoma cell lines. Tests of several monocyte-derived cytokines showed that only tumor necrosis factor alpha strongly induces the JE (MCP-1) gene in nontumorigenic cells and that this is accompanied by a dose-dependent reduction of HPV transcription. The JE (MCP-1) up-regulation occurs within 2 h and does not require de novo protein synthesis. The response to tumor necrosis factor alpha seems to be mediated by an NF-kappa B-related mechanism, since the induction can be completely abrogated by pretreating the cells with an antioxidant such as pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. Interestingly, cocultivation of nonmalignant hybrids with monocyte-enriched fractions from human peripheral blood also results in an induction of the JE (MCP-1) gene and a concomitant suppression of HPV18 transcription. Neither effect is observed in malignant cells. These data suggest that JE (MCP-1) may play a pivotal role in the intercellular communication by triggering an intracellular pathway which negatively interferes with viral transcription in HPV-positive nontumorigenic cells.

The parathyroid hormone-related protein gene and its expression

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) was originally identified as a tumor product, but it is now established that PTHrP is expressed in many tissues where it exerts paracrine functions. Three potential isoforms of PTHrP, 139, 141 and 173 amino acids in length, have been described and these isoforms result from alternative splicing of the PTHrP gene. The gene is composed of nine exons of which only two are invariant in PTHrP transcripts. The other seven exons may be represented in the PTHrP mRNA complement as a result of alternative splicing, which allows for the production of up to 15 transcripts. Three spatially-distinct promoters, two TATA and one GC-rich region, are responsible for transcription of the gene and these appear to be differentially regulated. The PTHrP gene contains nucleotide sequence motifs in common with members of the immediate-early response gene family, as well as other hallmark features which include induction by growth factors, serum or cycloheximide and relatively short-lived mRNA.

A human gene encoding a putative basic helix-loop-helix phosphoprotein whose mRNA increases rapidly in cycloheximide-treated blood mononuclear cells

G0S8 is a member of a set of putative G0/G1 switch regulatory genes (G0S genes) selected by screening cDNA libraries prepared from blood mononuclear cells cultured for 2 hr with lectin and cycloheximide. Comparison of a full-length cDNA sequence with the corresponding genomic sequence reveals an open reading frame of 211 amino acids, distributed across 5 exons. The 24-kD protein has a basic domain preceding a potential helix-loop-helix domain which contains a QTK motif found about 60 amino acids from the carboxyl terminus in the loop region of several helix-loop-helix proteins. There are potential phosphorylation sites for protein kinase C, creatine kinase II, and protein tyrosine kinases and regions of sequence similarity to helix-loop-helix proteins, tyrosine phosphatases, and RNA and DNA polymerases. The genomic sequence contains a CpG island, suggesting expression in the germ line. Potential binding sites for transcription factors are present in the 5' flank and introns; these include Zif268/NGFI-A/EGR1/G0S30, NGFI-B, Ap1, and factors that react with retroviral long terminal repeats (LTRs). There are several potential interferon response elements and a serum response element in the 3' flank overlapping a region of similarity to a cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene enhancer. Many of these motifs are found in immediate-early G0/G1 switch genes; however, we were unable to demonstrate an increase in G0S8 mRNA in response to lectin alone. Sequence similarities are noted between G0S8 and a variety of genes involved in the immune system, in the regulation of retroviruses, and in the cell cycle.

A B cell specific immediate early human gene is located on chromosome band 1q31 and encodes an alpha helical basic phosphoprotein

We have determined the cDNA sequence of a human B cell specific, immediate early gene, designated 1R20, which is inducible in response to several B cell activation signals. The cDNA sequence predicts a 196 amino acid open reading frame comprising numerous highly basic residues and the predicted structure contains several potential alpha helical domains together with eight consensus protein phosphorylation sites. The 1R20 gene has been localised by fluorescence in situ hybridisation to chromosome band 1q31, a region known to be implicated in the pathogenesis of haemopoietic malignancies.

Nucleotide sequence analysis of c-raf-1 cDNA and promoter from a radiation-resistant human squamous carcinoma cell line: deletion within exon 17

The c-raf-1 proto-oncogene is the cellular homologue of v-raf, the oncogene of the acutely transforming retrovirus 3611-MSV. The product of c-raf-1 (raf-1) is a 74-kDa cytoplasmic serine/threonine protein kinase. We previously reported that antisense human c-raf-1 cDNA transfection results in reduction of the endogenous c-raf-1 transcript, decreased tumor growth rate, and enhanced radiation sensitivity of SQ-20B tumor cells established from a radiation-resistant laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In the study reported here, we used cDNA-linked polymerase chain reaction amplification and nucleotide sequencing to examine the structure of the 3233-bp SQ-20B c-raf-1 cDNA. The 812-bp c-raf-1 promoter region was analyzed by genomic DNA amplification followed by cloning and sequencing. Sequence comparison with a previously published c-raf-1 sequence indicated no structural changes within the coding region of SQ-20B c-raf-1. However, a 4-bp deletion was observed in the 3' untranslated region within exon 17. This deletion was also present in a c-raf-1 cDNA clone isolated from a SQ-20B cDNA library. While the possibility of a 3' transcriptional control mechanism cannot be ruled out, it appears that the raf-1 protein kinase may regulate the development of radioresistant malignancies via interaction with other molecules in the damage and repair-related signal transduction pathways.