Pax-2是一种在胚胎肾和肾母细胞瘤中表达的DNA结合蛋白。

Pax-2 is a DNA-binding protein expressed in embryonic kidney and Wilms tumor.

作者信息

Dressler G R, Douglass E C

机构信息

Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892.

出版信息

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Feb 15;89(4):1179-83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.4.1179.

The murine Pax-2 gene contains a protein coding domain homologous to the Drosophila paired-box, first described in certain developmental control genes of the segmentation type. Polyclonal antibodies recognize two Pax-2 proteins that are encoded by differentially spliced mRNAs. The Pax-2 proteins can bind a DNA sequence known to interact with the paired domain of a Drosophila protein. By immunocytochemistry, expression of Pax-2 could be localized to the nuclei of condensing mesenchyme cells and their epithelial derivatives in the developing kidney. Expression is abruptly down-regulated as the tubular epithelium differentiates. High levels of Pax-2 expression could also be detected in the epithelial cells of human Wilms tumors. These data suggest that Pax-2 is a transcription factor active during the mesenchyme-to-epithelium transition in early kidney development and in Wilms tumor.

小鼠Pax-2基因包含一个与果蝇配对盒同源的蛋白质编码结构域，该结构域最初在某些节段型发育控制基因中被描述。多克隆抗体识别由差异剪接的mRNA编码的两种Pax-2蛋白。Pax-2蛋白可以结合已知与果蝇蛋白的配对结构域相互作用的DNA序列。通过免疫细胞化学方法，在发育中的肾脏中，Pax-2的表达可定位于浓缩间充质细胞及其上皮衍生物的细胞核中。随着肾小管上皮细胞分化，其表达会突然下调。在人类肾母细胞瘤的上皮细胞中也能检测到高水平的Pax-2表达。这些数据表明，Pax-2是一种在早期肾脏发育的间充质到上皮转变过程以及肾母细胞瘤中起作用的转录因子。