Pelletier G J, Brody S L, Liapis H, White R A, Hackett B P
Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Am J Physiol. 1998 Mar;274(3):L351-9. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.1998.274.3.L351.
Members of the forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor family play crucial roles during vertebrate development. A human hepatocyte nuclear factor/forkhead homolog (HFH)-4 cDNA encoding a 421-amino acid protein was isolated from a human fetal lung cDNA library. By Southern blot analysis of human-rodent somatic cell hybrid genomic DNA, the human HFH-4 gene localizes to chromosome 17q23-qter. This is the locus of another forkhead/winged-helix gene, the interleukin enhancer binding factor gene. RNA blot analysis revealed a 2.5-kilobase human HFH-4 transcript in fetal lung, kidney, and brain as well as in adult reproductive tissues, lung, and brain. By in situ hybridization, HFH-4 expression is associated with differentiation of the proximal pulmonary epithelium, starting during the pseudoglandular stage of human lung development. During human renal morphogenesis, HFH-4 is expressed in the developing epithelial cells of the ureteric duct, glomerulus, and epithelial vesicles. The unique pattern of HFH-4 expression during human fetal development suggests a role for this forkhead/winged-helix factor during pulmonary and renal epithelial development.
叉头/翼状螺旋转录因子家族成员在脊椎动物发育过程中发挥着关键作用。从人胎肺cDNA文库中分离出一个编码421个氨基酸蛋白质的人肝细胞核因子/叉头同源物（HFH）-4 cDNA。通过对人-啮齿动物体细胞杂种基因组DNA的Southern印迹分析，人HFH-4基因定位于染色体17q23-qter。这是另一个叉头/翼状螺旋基因——白细胞介素增强子结合因子基因的定位。RNA印迹分析显示，在胎肺、肾和脑中以及在成人生殖组织、肺和脑中存在一个2.5千碱基的人HFH-4转录本。通过原位杂交，HFH-4表达与近端肺上皮的分化相关，始于人肺发育的假腺期。在人肾形态发生过程中，HFH-4在输尿管导管、肾小球和上皮小泡的发育上皮细胞中表达。人胎儿发育过程中HFH-4表达的独特模式表明该叉头/翼状螺旋因子在肺和肾上皮发育中起作用。
