Basson M, Horvitz H R
Howard Hughes, Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
Genes Dev. 1996 Aug 1;10(15):1953-65. doi: 10.1101/gad.10.15.1953.
Neuronal and mesodermal cell types are generated in separate cell lineages during the larval development of Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we demonstrate that the gene sem-4 is required in both types of lineages for the normal development of neuronal and mesodermal cell types. The sem-4 gene encodes a protein containing seven zinc finger motifs of the C2H2 class, four of which are arranged in two pairs widely separated in the primary sequence of the protein. These pairs of zinc fingers are similar to pairs of zinc fingers in the protein encoded by the Drosophila homeotic gene spalt and in the human transcription factor PRDII-BF1. Analysis of sem-4 alleles suggests that different zinc fingers in the SEM-4 protein may function differentially in neuronal and mesodermal cell types. We propose that sem-4 interacts with different transcription factors in different cell types to control the transcription of genes that function in the processes of neuronal and mesodermal cell development.
在秀丽隐杆线虫的幼虫发育过程中，神经元细胞类型和中胚层细胞类型是在不同的细胞谱系中产生的。在这里，我们证明基因sem-4在这两种细胞谱系中对于神经元和中胚层细胞类型的正常发育都是必需的。sem-4基因编码一种含有七个C2H2类锌指基序的蛋白质，其中四个以两对的形式排列，在蛋白质的一级序列中相距很远。这两对锌指与果蝇同源异型基因spalt编码的蛋白质以及人类转录因子PRDII-BF1中的锌指对相似。对sem-4等位基因的分析表明，SEM-4蛋白质中的不同锌指可能在神经元和中胚层细胞类型中发挥不同的功能。我们提出，sem-4在不同细胞类型中与不同的转录因子相互作用，以控制在神经元和中胚层细胞发育过程中起作用的基因的转录。
