Lehming N, Le Saux A, Schüller J, Ptashne M
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jun 23;95(13):7322-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.13.7322.
The Drosophila HMG1-like protein DSP1 was identified by its ability to inhibit the transcriptional activating function of Dorsal in a promoter-specific fashion in yeast. We show here that DSP1 as well as its mammalian homolog hHMG2 bind to the mammalian protein SP100B and that SP100B in turn binds to human homologs of HP1. The latter is a Drosophila protein that is involved in transcriptional silencing. Each of these proteins represses transcription when tethered to DNA in mammalian cells. These results suggest how heterochromatin proteins might be recruited to specific sites on DNA with resultant specific effects on gene expression.
果蝇类HMG1蛋白DSP1是通过其在酵母中以启动子特异性方式抑制背腹侧蛋白转录激活功能的能力而被鉴定出来的。我们在此表明,DSP1及其哺乳动物同源物hHMG2与哺乳动物蛋白SP100B结合,而SP100B又与HP1的人类同源物结合。后者是一种参与转录沉默的果蝇蛋白。当这些蛋白中的每一种与哺乳动物细胞中的DNA相连时,都会抑制转录。这些结果表明异染色质蛋白可能是如何被招募到DNA上的特定位点,从而对基因表达产生特定影响的。