Purified transcription factor AP-1 interacts with TPA-inducible enhancer elements

Molecular genetics approaches have been used to identify and characterize cis-acting DNA sequences required for eukaryotic gene regulation. These sequences are modular in nature, consisting of arrays of short (10- to 12-base pair) recognition elements that interact with specific transcription factors. Some transcription factors have been extensively purified and the corresponding genes have been cloned, but the mechanisms by which they promote transcription are not yet understood. Positive and negative regulatory elements that function only in specific cell types or in response to extracellular inducers have been identified. A number of cases of inducible and tissue-specific gene expression involve the activation of preexisting transcription factors, rather than the synthesis of new proteins. This activation may involve covalent modification of the protein or an allosteric change in its structure. The modification of regulatory proteins may play a central role in the mechanisms of eukaryotic gene regulation.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/236/4806/1237.full.pdf

Regulation of inducible and tissue-specific gene expression

Isolation of cDNA encoding transcription factor Sp1 and functional analysis of the DNA binding domain.

The “initiator” as a transcription control element

Analysis of Sp1 in vivo reveals mutiple transcriptional domains, including a novel glutamine-rich activation motif

The biochemical analysis of cellular trans-activators involved in promoter recognition provides an important step toward understanding the mechanisms of gene expression in animal cells. The promoter selective transcription factor, Sp1, has been purified from human cells to more than 95 percent homogeneity by sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. Isolation and renaturation of proteins purified from sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels allowed the identification of two polypeptides (105 and 95 kilodaltons) as those responsible for recognizing and interacting specifically with the GC-box promoter elements characteristic of Sp1 binding sites.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/234/4772/47.full.pdf

Purification and biochemical characterization of the promoter-specific transcription factor, Sp1

The pattern of gene expression in mammalian cells requires thousands of genes to be turned on and off in a temporally and spatially regulated manner The control of transcription initiation is one means by which expression of genes can be varied Regulation of transcription initiation is well characterized in prokaryotes, but in higher organisms such as humans, this phenomenon is only beginning to be clarified One common approach to this problem has been the identification of important cis-acting DNA sequences in the region surrounding transcription initiation sites

Michael R. Briggs

Papers

Purification and biochemical characterization of the promoter-specific transcription factor, Sp1

Eukaryotic Transcriptional Specificity Conferred by DNA-Binding Proteins