羟基脲诱导前后HEL细胞内GATA转录因子与人β—类珠蛋白基因调控元件 …

HEL cells, a human erythroleukemia cell line, expressing mainly the gamma-globin genes, small amount of epsilon-globin gene, but not beta-globin gene. Our previous studies demonstrated that beta-globin gene could be expressed in HEL cells induced by hydroxyurea. However, the molecular mechenism is still unknown. Here the binding patterns of GATA factors (GATA-1 and GATA-2) to the regulatory elements of human beta-globin gene were examined with the nuclear extracts from hydroxyurea-induced and uninduced HEL cells. Our results showed in EMSA assay that GATA factors could bind to the core sequence of HS2(-10681 to -10971 bp), the 3' flanking sequence of HS2 core(-10323 to -10680 bp) and the promoter of human beta-globin gene(+20 to -112 bp). However, the binding patterns between hydroxyurea-induced and uninduced HEL cells were different. Furthermore, by using Western-blot analysis, our data showed that the amount of GATA-2 was decreased in hydroxyurea-induced HEL cells. In contrast to GATA-2, the amount of GATA-1 was increased in hydroxyurea-induced HEL cells. These results showed that the different members of GATA family might play different roles during the differentiation of erythrocytes. GATA-1 may stimulate the differentiation of HEL cells, while GATA-2 can probably inhibit the differentiation of HEL cells.     

The N-terminal fingers of chicken GATA-2 and GATA-3 are independent sequence-specific DNA binding domains.

The GATA family of vertebrate DNA binding regulatory proteins are expressed in diverse tissues and at different times of development. However, the DNA binding regions of these proteins possess considerable homology and recognize a rather similar range of DNA sequence motifs. DNA binding is mediated through two domains, each containing a zinc finger. Previous results have led to the conclusion that although in some cases the N-terminal finger can contribute to specificity and strength of binding, it does not bind independently, whereas the C-terminal finger is both necessary and sufficient for binding. Here we show that although this is true for the N-terminal finger of GATA-1, those of GATA-2 and GATA-3 are capable of strong independent binding with a preference for the motif GATC. Binding requires the presence of two basic regions located on either side of the N-terminal finger. The absence of one of these near the GATA-1 N-terminal finger probably accounts for its inability to bind. The combination of a single finger and two basic regions is a new variant of a motif that has been previously found in the binding domains of other finger proteins. Our results suggest that the DNA binding properties of the N-terminal finger may help distinguish GATA-2 and GATA-3 from GATA-1 and the other GATA family members in their selective regulatory roles in vivo.