POU同源域蛋白的结构及发育中的功能

POU同源域蛋白含有两个保守的亚结构域以及它们之间有变化的连接区.两个亚结构域与DNA相互作用,在连接区可塑性和辅因子的帮助下,POU蛋白作为调控因子和转录因子,显示出错综复杂的DNA结合和识别能力.在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物中,POU蛋白参与胚胎发生的早期过程,在细胞谱系的分化和神经发育中起调控作用.     

Oct-4/Sox-2 协同调控下游基因表达的分子机制

Oct-4属POU家族蛋白,是一类在动物早期胚胎发育过程中起重要作用的转录因子,参与维持细胞的全能性及未分化状态。Oct-4蛋白的主要结构特征为具有POU家族特有的保守结构域（POUS）和POU同源异型结构域（POUHD）,这两个结构域可与DNA上特定区域形成双向结合,进而对基因转录进行调控。Sox-2是另一种转录因子,其HMG结构域可结合在DNA的特定序列上,并可通过与Oct-4的POUs结构域之间的蛋白质．蛋白质相互作用形成POU／HMG／DNA三元复合体以调控下游靶基因的表达。文章就POU家族成员Oct-4和HMG-box家族成员Sox-2在动物早期胚胎发育中调控部分下游基因表达的分子机制进行了概述。     

免疫球蛋白基因的转录调控

免疫球蛋白(Ig)的表达是B细胞特异性和发育阶段特异性的事件.Oct2、NF-kB和HLH蛋白与Ig基因细胞特异转录有关.Oct2含有POU结构域,属POU转录调控因子家族;NF-kB有rel-like结构域,属rel-like转录调控因子家族;HLH蛋白特征性结构为螺旋-环-螺旋(helix-loop-helix,HLH)结构域,已报道的HLH蛋白都与转录调节有关.     

猪POU1F1基因部分序列变异和同源性分析

对长白、杜洛克、约克夏、姜曲海、梅山和香猪等六个猪种的POU1F1基因第四、第五和第六外显子分别进行PCR扩增,并对含有第四、第六外显子的PCR产物和含有第五外显子的克隆产物进行测序。结果表明：六个猪种中,POU1F1基因的第四外显子存在碱基突变,为T→C。对该序列进行Nla Ⅲ 酶消化,产生两种不同的基因型(GG和HH);而第五和第六外显子则高度保守,未发现任何突变。将人POU1F1基因第四外显子、POU同源区核苷酸编码序列和氨基酸序列,分别与猪、小鼠、牛的POU1F1基因相应的核苷酸序列和氨基酸序列进行同源性比较,结果发现：人与猪、小鼠、牛的POU1F1基因第四外显子的核苷酸同源性分别高达93.9%、86.7%、92.1%,而由第四外显子编码的部分POU特异区的氨基酸序列则完全一致;人与猪、小鼠、牛POU同源区的核苷酸同源性分别为91.4%、85.1%、87.9%,氨基酸同源性分别为96.6%、94.8%、90.2%。这说明在哺乳动物中,其POU1F1蛋白的POU同源区和由第四外显子编码的POU特异区部分是高度保守的;猪可作为实验动物,建立人类相关疾病模型,为医学研究提供参考依据。     

猪POU1F1基因5’侧翼区克隆及序列分析

POU1F1基因是POU基因家族的成员之一,对哺乳动物的早期发育和相关基因启动表达起重要的调控作用。本文利用染色体步移技术,从长白猪基因组中首次克隆到了约1．5kb的POU1F1基因5’侧翼区序列,并利用相关软件对其进行了序列分析和物种间POU1F1基因5’侧翼区序列比对及进化树构建。结果表明所克隆的片段中含典型的TATA盒（-57）和类CAAT盒序列（-87）。TESS软件分析发现在启动子附近有一系列潜在的重要的转录因子结合位点。序列比对结果表明不同物种POU1F1基因的转录起始点上游-150bp区域保守性较强,可能是启动子的核心序列。其中猪与牛的同源性最高,其次是黑猩猩、人、狗,与大鼠、小鼠和鸡同源性较低,与斑马鱼序列同源性最低。同源序列主要集中在转录起始点上游-150bp至-1000bp区域。Vista中的MLAGAN程序构建的系统进化树真实反应了物种间进化关系。     

同源异形域结构及对DNA的识别

同源异形域蛋白是真核生物中一类重要的转录因子.根据同源盒基因及其同源异形域产物的肤链结构可以分为多种家族.文章综述了同源异形域与DNA结合的一般特点.并叙述了Antp、POU等重要类型的转录因子如何识别DNA位点、HTH及其他蛋白质在识别中如何起作用.     

Paxillin在大鼠胰腺发育不同时期表达的研究

目的:研究桩蛋白(Paxillin,Pxn)在胰腺发育不同阶段的表达和细胞定位.方法:运用RT-PCR技术检测Pxn在大鼠胰腺发育不同阶段的mRNA表达水平;运用免疫组织化学检测不同时期桩蛋白在胰腺的定位.结果:RT-PCR结果显示Pxn的mRNA表达量胚胎期高于新生和成年期;免疫组织化学结果显示在不同发育时期桩蛋白不仅在外分泌胰腺有表达,而且在胰岛也有表达.结论:具有调节细胞聚集、粘附迁移功能的桩蛋白可能参与出生后胰岛重塑.     

Evolutionary and Functional Analysis of the Key Pluripotency Factor Oct4 and Its Family Proteins

Oct4 is one of the key pluripotent factors essential for embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.Oct4 belongs to the POU domain family,which contains multiples genes with various ...     

中国荷斯坦牛POU1F1基因与PRL基因的多态性及其聚合效应对产奶性状的影响

文章采用DNA测序、PCR-RFLP和CRS-PCR技术对979头中国荷斯坦牛POU1F1基因与PRL基因进行研究,发现了3个新SNPs,分别是POU1F1基因第二外显子G1178C、PRL基因5侧翼区A906G和A1134G。采用SAS统计软件GLM程序,利用最小二乘法拟合线性模型,分析基因多态性与产奶性状的关系。结果表明:POU1F1基因1178位点GC基因型在产奶量、乳蛋白量、乳脂量方面均为优良基因型。PRL基因5侧翼区906位点AG基因型在产奶量方面为优良基因型,1134位点不同基因型产奶性状差异不显著。对PRL基因5侧翼区的906位点和POU1F1基因的1178位点进行基因互作分析,结果在乳脂率、乳蛋白率、产奶量、乳蛋白量和乳脂量方面各基因型组合之间均未观察到显著差异,说明基因聚合效应并不是单基因效应的简单相加,基因聚合效应在分子育种中具有更重要的意义。     

拟南芥根中生长素极性运输的研究进展

生长素极性运输影响植物的生长和发育,在植物器官形态建成、发育等过程中发挥重要的调控作用.生长素极性运输是一个依赖于生长素运输载体来完成的复杂过程.近年来生长素极性运输载体AUX/LAX蛋白、PIN蛋白家族和MDR/PGP蛋白家族在生长素极性运输中作用的研究日益深入,并且在植物激素联系和转运方面取得了重大发现——PILC蛋白.     

Segments of the POU domain influence one another''s DNA-binding specificity.

The ubiquitously expressed mammalian POU-domain protein Oct-1 specifically recognizes two classes of cis-acting regulatory elements that bear little sequence similarity, the octamer motif ATGCAAAT and the TAATGARAT motif. The related pituitary-specific POU protein Pit-1 also recognizes these two motifs but, unlike Oct-1, binds preferentially to the TAATGARAT motif. Yet in our assay, Pit-1 still binds octamer elements better than does the octamer motif-binding protein Oct-3. The POU domain is responsible for recognizing these diverse regulatory sequences through multiple DNA contacts that include the two POU subdomains, the POU-specific region, and the POU homeodomain. The DNA-binding properties of 10 chimeric POU domains, in which different POU-domain segments are derived from either Oct-1 or Pit-1, reveal a high degree of structural plasticity; these hybrid proteins all bind DNA well and frequently bind particular sites better than does either of the parental POU domains. In these chimeric POU domains, the POU-specific A and B boxes and the hypervariable POU linker can influence DNA-binding specificity. The surprising result is that the influence a particular segment has on DNA-binding specificity can be greatly affected by the origin of other segments of the POU domain and the sequence of the binding site. Thus, the broad but selective DNA-binding specificity of Oct-1 is conferred both by multiple DNA contacts and by dynamic interactions within the DNA-bound POU domain.     

APH-1, a POU homeobox gene expressed in the salt gland of the crustacean Artemia franciscana.

We characterized the first POU-homeoprotein in a crustacean (designated APH-1 for Artemia POU-Homeoprotein, EMBL Y15070). The amino acid sequence of the APH-1 POU-domain is identical, except for two residues, to that of the two class III POU proteins Cf1-a (Drosophila) and POU-M1 (Bombyx mori). Southern blot analysis suggests that crustaceans have only one class III POU gene. RT-PCR and whole-mount in situ hybridization show that APH-1 mRNA is present in larvae specifically in the salt gland, an organ which is involved in osmoregulation, and disappears in the adult.     

POU-domain gene expression in the gastrointestinal tract

The process of self-renewal which occurs in the gastrointestinal epithelium is greatly amplified and accelerated during the intestinal adaptation which occurs in the residual ileum after massive small bowel resection (MSBR). As with growth and development, these processes must involve the coordinated regulation of many genes. Several families of nuclear proteins are known to be involved in the control of gene expression during development including the POU-domain genes; their expression has not been characterized in the gastrointestinal tract during normal cellular renewal or adaptation, and POU-domain encoding cDNAs were cloned from ileal RNA. Three known genes were cloned: Oct-1, Brn-1 and Tst-1 but no novel members of this gene family were identified. The encoded sequence for rat Oct-1 differs from that previously reported. Oct-1 is relatively ubiquitously expressed with increased expression during both development and adaptation. Minimal expression of Tst-1 was observed. Brn-1 exhibits limited expression in the adult gastrointestinal tract. but may play a role in the fetal gastrointestinal tract.     

Brain POU-er

Developmental coordination is vital in the temporally coordinated appearance of cell types within the precise spatial architecture of the vertebrate brain and this, combined with the rich interplay between the developing brain and its target organs, is a biological problem of monumental complexity. An example is the genesis and subsequent integration of the neuroendocrine hypothalamus and the pituitary. Two recent papers^(1,2) use the developing hypothalamo-pituitary axis in order to gather a deeper understanding of these integrative mechanisms. In addition, they show that a sub-family of homeodomain factors, the POU-domain proteins, play a critical role in coordinating the respective ontogenies of the hypothalamus and the pituitary.