1. Academic Validation
  2. A factor that regulates the class II major histocompatibility complex gene DPA is a member of a subfamily of zinc finger proteins that includes a Drosophila developmental control protein

A factor that regulates the class II major histocompatibility complex gene DPA is a member of a subfamily of zinc finger proteins that includes a Drosophila developmental control protein

  • Mol Cell Biol. 1994 Dec;14(12):8438-50. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.12.8438-8450.1994.
M Sugawara 1 T Scholl P D Ponath J L Strominger
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
Abstract

A novel DNA sequence element termed the J element involved in the regulated expression of class II major histocompatibility complex genes was recently described. To study this element and its role in class II gene regulation further, a cDNA library was screened with oligonucleotide probes containing both the S element and the nearby J element of the human DPA gene. Several DNA clones were obtained by this procedure, one of which, clone 18, is reported and characterized here. It encodes a protein predicted to contain 688 amino acid residues, including 11 zinc finger motifs of the C2H2 type in the C-terminal region, that are Krüppel-like in the conservation of the H/C link sequence connecting them. The 160 N-terminal Amino acids in the nonfinger region of clone 18 are highly homologous with similar regions of several Other human, mouse, and Drosophila sequences, defining a subfamily of Krüppel-like zinc finger proteins termed TAB (tramtrack [ttk]-associated box) here. One of the Drosophila sequences, ttk, is a developmental control gene, while a second does not contain a zinc finger region but encodes a structure important in oocyte development. An acidic activation domain is located between the N-terminal conserved region of clone 18 and its zinc fingers. This protein appears to require both the S and J elements, which are separated by 10 bp for optimal binding. Antisense cDNA to clone 18 inhibited the expression of a reporter construct containing the DPA promoter, indicating its functional importance in the expression of this class II gene.

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