DREF, a Transcriptional Regulatory Factor Related to Cell Proliferation
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: Coordinate expression of many cell proliferation-related genes is required for the cellular shift from resting state into proliferating state. For a candidate of the regulatory factors involved this process, we found a transcription regulatory factor named DREF (DNA replication-related element-binding factor) in Drosophila and then in mammalian systems. Drosophila DREF consists of a homodimer of the polypeptide of 709 amino acid residues, and shears about 22% identities of amino acid sequences with the human homolog which consists of 694 amino acid residues. Drosophila DREF binds specifically to the DRE sequence (5'-TATCGATA-3') in the promoters of many DNA replication/cell proliferation-related genes to activate their transcription. Ectopic expression of DREF in larval imaginal discs induce abnormal DNA synthesis, apoptosis and failures in differentiation. Both Drosophila and mammalian DREF's interact genetically and physically with regulatory factors related to chromatin structures, suggesting that DREF activates the expression of proliferation-related genes through modification of chromatin structures. By sea\nrching the Drosophila genome, we found about 150 genes which carry DRE sequences in their promoter regions, interestingly many of which are related to reactions required for cell proliferation such as DNA replication, transcription, transcriptional regulation, cell cycle regulation, growth signal transduction, protein metabolism. Thus, DREF is a master key-like factor for cell proliferation.
Authors: Midori Maruyama, Makiko Inoue, Akiko Koike, Tomoko Shuto, Akiko Ikeda, Hideki Yoshida, Masamitsu Yamaguchi, Fumiko Hirose, Akio Matsukage
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W34101230