pubmed:abstractText |
PU.1 is a member of the Ets family of transcription factors and plays critical roles in the development of hematopoietic cells such as macrophages and B cells. To elucidate the molecular mechanism(s) underlying the regulation of PU.1 function, we screened for PU.1 interacting proteins using a yeast two-hybrid approach. As a result, a novel PU.1 binding factor, which we termed Pub, was isolated. The Pub protein has one B-box zinc finger domain, followed by a coiled-coil region and a B30.2-like domain, these features being characteristic of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family of protein. The PEST domain of PU.1 was found to interact with the N-terminal portion of Pub, a region that includes the TRIM which is considered to mediate protein-protein interactions. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that Pub is predominantly expressed in hematopoietic tissues and cells where PU.1 is also expressed. Using a luciferase-based assay, we showed that Pub inhibited the transcriptional activity of PU.1. Moreover, the B-box zinc finger domain of Pub was critical for this inhibitory activity. These data suggest that Pub may be important in regulating the transcriptional activity of PU.1.
|
pubmed:affiliation |
Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
|