Altered gene expression in neurons during programmed cell death: identification of c-jun as necessary for neuronal apoptosis.

We have examined the hypothesis that neuronal programmed cell death requires a genetic program; we used a model wherein rat sympathetic neurons maintained in vitro are deprived of NGF and subsequently undergo apoptosis. To evaluate gene expression potentially necessary for this process, we used a PCR-based technique and in situ hybridization; patterns of general gene repression and selective gene induction were identified in NGF-deprived neurons. A temporal cascade of induced genes included "immediate early genes," which were remarkable in that their induction occurred hours after the initial stimulus of NGF removal and the synthesis of some required ongoing protein synthesis. The cascade also included the cell cycle gene c-myb and the genes encoding the extracellular matrix proteases transin and collagenase. Concurrent in situ hybridization and nuclear staining revealed that while c-jun was induced in most neurons, c-fos induction was restricted to neurons undergoing chromatin condensation, a hallmark of apoptosis. To evaluate the functional role of the proteins encoded by these genes, neutralizing antibodies were injected into neurons. Antibodies specific for either c-Jun or the Fos family (c-Fos, Fos B, Fra-1, and Fra-2) protected NGF-deprived neurons from apoptosis, whereas antibodies specific for Jun B, Jun D, or three nonimmune antibody preparations had no protective effect. Because these induced genes encode proteins ranging from a transcription factor necessary for death to proteases likely involved in tissue remodeling concurrent with death, these data may outline a genetic program responsible for neuronal programmed cell death.

Transcriptional activation by simian virus 40 large T antigen: interactions with multiple components of the transcription complex.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen is a potent transcriptional activator of both viral and cellular promoters. Within the SV40 late promoter, a specific upstream element necessary for T-antigen transcriptional activation is the binding site for transcription-enhancing factor 1 (TEF-1). The promoter structure necessary for T-antigen-mediated transcriptional activation appears to be simple. For example, a promoter consisting of upstream TEF-1 binding sites (or other factor-binding sites) and a downstream TATA or initiator element is efficiently activated. It has been demonstrated that transcriptional activation by T antigen does not require direct binding to the DNA; thus, the most direct effect that T antigen could have on these simple promoters would be through protein-protein interactions with either upstream-bound transcription factors, the basal transcription complex, or both. To determine whether such interactions occur, full-length T antigen or segments of it was fused to the glutathione-binding site (GST fusions) or to the Gal4 DNA-binding domain (amino acids 1 to 147) (Gal4 fusions). With the GST fusions, it was found that TEF-1 and the TATA-binding protein (TBP) bound different regions of T antigen. A GST fusion containing amino acids 5 to 172 (region T1) efficiently bound TBP. TEF-1 bound neither region T1 nor a region between amino acids 168 and 373 (region T2); however, it bound efficiently to the combined region (T5) containing amino acids 5 to 383.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Regulation of Fra-1 and Fra-2 phosphorylation differs during the cell cycle of fibroblasts and phosphorylation in vitro by MAP kinase affects DNA binding activity.

The Fos family of transcription factors, c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1 and Fra-2, are rapidly induced in quiescent fibroblasts following serum or growth factor stimulation. The Fos proteins show distinct patterns of expression during cell growth with only Fra-1 and Fra-2 maintained at significant levels in growing cells, suggesting that the different family members direct unique functions for cell growth. Post-translational modification of Fos proteins has been observed following serum stimulation, which may allow an additional level of regulation. Our studies show that the synthesis and post-translational modification of Fra-1 and Fra-2 in Swiss 3T3 cells is serum-dependent during G1 following the transition from G0 and during asynchronous growth but is serum-independent during S phase and mitosis. Post-translational modification of Fra-1 and Fra-2 causes a significant shift in their gel mobility which is eliminated by alkaline phosphatase treatment. Several kinases can phosphorylate Fra-1 and Fra-2 in vitro, including cAMP-dependent kinase (PKA), protein kinase C (PKC), cyclin-dependent kinase 1-cdc2 (cdc2), and mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase. From these, MAP kinase is the only one that causes a shift in gel mobility similar to that observed in vivo. One dimensional phosphopeptide maps of Fra-1 and Fra-2 phosphorylated by MAP kinase in vitro are similar to those of in vivo labeled Fra-1 and Fra-2, suggesting that MAP kinase may also phosphorylate Fra-1 and Fra-2 in vivo. We have also determined that phosphorylation of Fra-1 and Fra-2 by MAP kinase increases their DNA binding activity.

Disruption of the erp/mkp-1 gene does not affect mouse development: normal MAP kinase activity in ERP/MKP-1-deficient fibroblasts.

Externally regulated phosphatase (ERP or MKP-1) is a dual specificity phosphatase that has been implicated in the dephosphorylation of mitogen activated protein kinases (MAP kinases). MAP kinase is activated in response to external signals and in turn phosphorylates proteins essential to the regulation of cell growth. To study the role of ERP/MKP-1 protein in mammalian development and its function in signal transduction we have generated mice, embryonic stem (ES), cells and mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) that are deficient in the ERP/MKP-1 protein. ERP/MKP-1-deficient mice are born at normal frequency, are fertile and present no phenotypic or histologic abnormalities. MAP kinase activity and the induction of c-fos mRNA is unaltered in MEFs lacking the ERP/MKP-1 protein, indicating no alteration of the MAP kinase pathway. In addition, ERP/MKP-1 deficient MEFs grow and enter DNA synthesis at the same rate as control cells. Our results demonstrate that the activity of ERP/MKP-1 is not essential for embryo development and indicate that the lack of ERP/MKP-1 activity can be compensated by other phosphatases in vivo.

Expression of FosB during mouse development: normal development of FosB knockout mice.

FosB, one of the members of the Fos family, is rapidly induced in many cell types upon stimulation and has a stimulatory effect on the proliferation of cultured cells. To understand the tissue distribution of FosB, we have studied its expression pattern by immunohistochemistry in newborn and late embryonic stage mice. These results show that FosB is widely expressed with the highest levels of expression observed in both bony and cartilagenous regions of developing bone. FosB is also detected within whisker follicles, liver, and epidermal tissue. To study the role of FosB in mammalian development we generated embryonic stem (ES) cells, mice and mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) that are deficient for FosB. FosB -/- mice are born at a normal frequency, are fertile and present no obvious phenotypic or histologic abnormalities. FosB-deficient ES cells and MEFs proliferate and enter the S phase normally and we do not find upregulation of other fos family genes to compensate for the lack of FosB. However, we do find that the induction of two AP-1 containing genes is reduced after stimulation of FosB-deficient cells, demonstrating that FosB does indeed play a functional role in transcriptional regulation.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) T-antigen transcriptional activation mediated through the Oct/SPH region of the SV40 late promoter.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen is a promiscuous transcriptional activator of many viral and cellular promoters. The SV40 late promoter, a primary target for T-antigen transcriptional activation, contains a previously described T-antigen-activatable binding site (SV40 nucleotides 186 to 225). The T-antigen-activatable binding site element contains overlapping octamer (Oct)- and SPH (TEF-1)-binding sites (Oct/SPH site). Using this Oct/SPH site as an upstream element in a simple promoter, we show that the SPH sites are necessary for transcriptional activation by T antigen. In addition, we show that when Oct 1 is overproduced, it can eliminate T-antigen-mediated transcriptional activation, as well as basal activity, from the simple Oct/SPH promoter as well as the intact SV40 late promoter. This suggests that one function of T antigen in transcriptional activation of the late promoter is to alter factor binding at the Oct/SPH region to favor binding of factors to the SPH sites.

Absence of a persistently elevated 37 kDa fos-related antigen and AP-1-like DNA-binding activity in the brains of kainic acid-treated fosB null mice.

Chronic stimulation of the nervous system or acute administration of kainic acid results in a persistent increase in AP-1-like DNA-binding activity in the brain. However, the composition and function of these AP-1 complexes remain controversial. By comparing wild-type and fosB-null mice treated with kainic acid, we establish that the complexes comprise JunD in association with an approximately 37 kDa Delta-FosB species. Delta-FosB was expressed persistently in neurons in many areas of the CNS, even though fosB mRNA only increased transiently. This implies that the 37 kDa protein is very stable. fosB-/- mice are predisposed to seizures. Therefore, the chronic expression of Delta-FosB elicited by kainic acid seizures may be indicative of a compensatory/protective role in the pathophysiology of epilepsy.

Activity of simian DNA-binding factors is altered in the presence of simian virus 40 (SV40) early proteins: characterization of factors binding to elements involved in activation of the SV40 late promoter.

The early proteins of simian virus 40 (SV40) large T and small t antigen (T/t antigen) can each cause the transcriptional activation of a variety of cellular and viral promoters. We showed previously that simian cellular DNA-binding factors (the Band A factors) bind to sequences within the SV40 late promoter which are important for transcriptional activation in the presence of the SV40 early proteins. Band A factors isolated from simian cells which produce T/t antigen (COS cells or SV40-infected CV-1 cells) have altered binding properties in comparison with the factors from normal simian cells (CV-1). This suggests that the transcriptional activation mediated by T/t antigen may be due to either modification of existing factors or induction of new members of a family of factors. We have purified the Band A factors from both COS and CV-1 cells and have determined the binding site by methylation interference and DNase protection footprinting. The COS cell factors have altered chromatographic properties on ion-exchange columns and have higher-molecular-weight forms than the CV-1 cell factors. Major forms of the CV-1 factors migrate between 20 and 24 kilodaltons, while the COS factors migrate between 20 and 28 kilodaltons. The binding sites for the factors from CV-1 and COS cells are similar, covering a rather broad region within the 72-base-pair repeat comprising the AP-1 site and the two-octamer binding protein (OBP100/Oct 1) sites, OBP I and OBP II. Specific binding competition analyses indicate that the two general regions within the binding site (the AP-1-OBP II site and the OBP I site) each retain partial binding ability; however, the factors bind best when the two regions are adjacent in a relatively specific spatial arrangement. The binding site for the Band A factors corresponds very well to sequences necessary for the activation of the late promoter as defined by deletion and base substitution mutagenesis studies (J. M. Keller and J. C. Alwine, Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:1859-1869, 1985; E. May, F. Omilli, M. Emoult-Lange, M. Zenke, and P. Chambon, Nucleic Acids Res. 15:2445-2461, 1987). These data, in combination with the data showing that the Band A factors are modified or induced in the presence of T/t antigen, strongly suggest that T/t antigen mediates its transcriptional activation function, at least in part, through the Band A factors.