RESUMO
Tcf/Lef family transcription factors are the downstream effectors of the Wingless/Wnt signal transduction pathway. Upon Wingless/Wnt signalling, beta-catenin translocates to the nucleus, interacts with Tcf (1-3) and thus activates transcription of target genes (4,5). Tcf factors also interact with members of the Groucho (Grg/TLE) family of transcriptional co-repressors (6). We have now tested all known mammalian Groucho family members for their ability to interact specifically with individual Tcf/Lef family members. Transcriptional activation by any Tcf could be repressed by Grg-1, Grg-2/TLE-2, Grg-3 and Grg-4 in a reporter assay. Specific interactions between Tcf and Grg proteins may be achieved in vivo by tissue- or cell type-limited expression. To address this, we determined the expression of all Tcf and Grg/TLE family members in a panel of cell lines. Within any cell line, several Tcfs and TLEs are co-expressed. Thus, redundancy in Tcf/Grg interactions appears to be the rule. The 'long' Groucho family members containing five domains are repressors of Tcf-mediated transactivation, whereas Grg-5, which only contains the first two domains, acts as a de-repressor. As previously shown for Drosophila Groucho, we show that long Grg proteins interact with histone deacetylase-1. Although Grg-5 contains the GP homology domain that mediates HDAC binding in long Grg proteins, Grg-5 fails to bind this co-repressor, explaining how it can de-repress transcription.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Proteínas de Grupo de Alta Mobilidade/metabolismo , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos , Sítios de Ligação , Ligação Competitiva , Linhagem Celular , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Proteínas de Grupo de Alta Mobilidade/genética , Humanos , Células Jurkat , Luciferases/genética , Luciferases/metabolismo , Modelos Biológicos , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Ligação Proteica , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/metabolismo , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Homologia de Sequência de Aminoácidos , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Transcrição Gênica , Células Tumorais Cultivadas , Técnicas do Sistema de Duplo-HíbridoRESUMO
Tcf/Lef transcription factors mediate signalling from Wingless/Wnt proteins by recruiting Armadillo/beta-catenin as a transcriptional co-activator. However, studies of Drosophila, Xenopus and Caenorhabditis elegans have indicated that Tcf factors may also be transcriptional repressors. Here we show that Tcf factors physically interact with members of the Groucho family of transcriptional repressors. In transient transfection assays, the Xenopus Groucho homologue XGrg-4 inhibited activation of transcription of synthetic Tcf reporter genes. In contrast, the naturally truncated Groucho-family member XGrg-5 enhanced transcriptional activation. Injection of XGrg-4 into Xenopus embryos repressed transcription of Siamois and Xnr-3, endogenous targets of beta-catenin-Tcf. Dorsal injection of XGrg-4 had a ventralizing effect on Xenopus embryos. Secondary-axis formation induced by a dominant-positive Armadillo-Tcf fusion protein was inhibited by XGrg-4 and enhanced by XGrg-5. These data indicate that expression of Tcf target genes is regulated by a balance between Armadillo and Groucho.
