E2f4 regulates fetal erythropoiesis through the promotion of cellular proliferation.

The E2F proteins are major regulators of the transcriptional program required to coordinate cell cycle progression and exit. In particular, E2f4 has been proposed to be the principal family member responsible for the regulation of cell cycle exit chiefly through its transcriptional repressive properties. We have previously shown that E2f4(-/-) mice display a marked macrocytic anemia implicating E2f4 in the regulation of erythropoiesis. However, these studies could not distinguish whether E2f4 was required for differentiation, survival, or proliferation control. Here, we describe a novel function for E2f4 in the promotion of erythroid proliferation. We show that loss of E2f4 results in an impaired expansion of the fetal erythroid compartment in vivo that is associated with impaired cell cycle progression and decreased erythroid proliferation. Consistent with these observations, cDNA microarray analysis reveals cell cycle control genes as one of the major class of genes down-regulated in E2f4(-/-) FLs, and we provide evidence that E2f4 may directly regulate the transcriptional expression of a number of these genes. We conclude that the macrocytic anemia of E2f4(-/-) mice results primarily from impaired cellular proliferation and that the major role of E2f4 in fetal erythropoiesis is to promote cell cycle progression and cellular proliferation.

A network of PDZ-containing proteins regulates T cell polarity and morphology during migration and immunological synapse formation.

T cell shape is dictated by the selective recruitment of molecules to different regions of the cell (polarity) and is integral to every aspect of T cell function, from migration to cytotoxicity. This study describes a mechanism for the regulation of T cell polarity. We show that T cells contain a network of asymmetrically distributed proteins with the capacity to dictate the subcellular localization of both cell surface receptors and morphological determinants in T cells. Proteins from the Scribble, Crumbs3, and Par3 complexes, previously shown to regulate epithelial polarity, were polarized in T cells containing either uropods or immunological synapses. Reduction in Scribble expression prevented the polarization of cell surface receptors and prevented morphological changes associated with uropod formation, migration, and antigen presentation. By dynamically coordinating molecular distribution throughout the T cell, this network provides a mechanism by which T cell function and polarity are linked.