John Svaren

NAB2, a corepressor of NGFI-A (Egr-1) and Krox20, is induced by proliferative and differentiative stimuli.

Previous work had identified a corepressor, NAB1, which represses transcriptional activation mediated by NGFI-A (also known as Egr-1, zif268, and Krox24) and Krox20. These zinc finger transcription factors are encoded by immediate-early genes and have been implicated in a wide variety of proliferative and differentiative processes. We have isolated and characterized another corepressor, NAB2, which is highly related to NAB1 within two discrete domains. The first conserved domain of NAB2 mediates an interaction with the R1 domain of NGFI-A. NAB2 represses the activity of both NGFI-A and Krox20, and its expression is regulated by some of the same stimuli that induce NGFI-A expression, including serum stimulation of fibroblasts and nerve growth factor stimulation of PC12 cells. The human NAB2 gene has been localized to chromosome 12ql3.3-14.1, a region that is rearranged in several solid tumors, lipomas, uterine leiomyomata, and liposarcomas. Sequencing of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome has identified a gene that bears high homology to both NAB1 and NAB2, suggesting that NAB molecules fulfill an evolutionarily conserved role.

EGR2 Mutations in Inherited Neuropathies Dominant-Negatively Inhibit Myelin Gene Expression

The identification of EGR2 mutations in patients with neuropathies and the phenotype Egr2/Krox20(-/-) have demonstrated that the Egr2 transcription factor is critical for peripheral nerve myelination. However, the mechanism by which these mutations cause disease remains unclear, as most patients present with disease in the heterozygous state, whereas Egr2(+/-) mice are phenotypically normal. To understand the effect of aberrant Egr2 activity on Schwann cell gene expression, we performed microarray expression profiling to identify genes regulated by Egr2 in Schwann cells. These include genes encoding myelin proteins and enzymes required for synthesis of normal myelin lipids. Using these newly identified targets, we have shown that neuropathy-associated EGR2 mutants dominant-negatively inhibit wild-type Egr2-mediated expression of essential myelin genes to levels sufficiently low to result in the abnormal myelination observed in these patients.

Activation of Luteinizing Hormone β Gene by Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone Requires the Synergy of Early Growth Response-1 and Steroidogenic Factor-1

We have previously shown that early growth response (Egr) 1-deficient mice exhibit female infertility, reflecting a luteinizing hormone (LH) β deficiency. Egr-1 activates the LHβ gene in vitro through synergy with steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1), a protein required for gonadotrope function. To test if this synergy is essential for gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation of LHβ, we examined the activity of the LHβ promoter in the gonadotrope cell line LβT2. GnRH markedly stimulated the LHβ promoter (15-fold). Mutation of either Egr-1 or SF-1 elements within the LHβ promoter attenuated this stimulation, whereas mutation of both promoter elements abrogated GnRH induction of the LHβ promoter. Furthermore, GnRH stimulated Egr-1 but not SF-1 expression in LβT2 cells. Importantly, overexpression of Egr-1 alone was sufficient to enhance LHβ expression. Although other Egr proteins are expressed in LβT2 cells and are capable of interacting with SF-1, GnRH stimulation of Egr-1 was the most robust. We also found that the nuclear receptor DAX-1, a repressor of SF-1 activity, reduced Egr-1–SF-1 synergy and diminished GnRH stimulation of the LHβ promoter. We conclude that the synergy between Egr-1 and SF-1 is essential for GnRH stimulation of the LHβ gene and plays a central role in the dynamic regulation of LHβ expression.

Transcription factors vs nucleosomes: regulation of the PH05 promoter in yeast

Activation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PHO5 gene is accompanied by the disruption of four positioned nucleosomes at the promoter. The chromatin transition requires a DNA-binding protein, Pho4, and its transactivation domain. The mechanism of nucleosome disruption and the contribution of the nucleosomes to PHO5 regulation are reviewed.

The molecular machinery of myelin gene transcription in Schwann cells

During late fetal life, Schwann cells in the peripheral nerves singled out by the larger axons will transit through a promyelinating stage before exiting the cell cycle and initiating myelin formation. A network of extra‐ and intracellular signaling pathways, regulating a transcriptional program of cell differentiation, governs this progression of cellular changes, culminating in a highly differentiated cell. In this review, we focus on the roles of a number of transcription factors not only in myelination, during normal development, but also in demyelination, following nerve trauma. These factors include specification factors involved in early development of Schwann cells from neural crest (Sox10) as well as factors specifically required for transitions into the promyelinating and myelinating stages (Oct6/Scip and Krox20/Egr2). From this description, we can glean the first, still very incomplete, contours of a gene regulatory network that governs myelination and demyelination during development and regeneration.

Impaired prostate tumorigenesis in Egr1-deficient mice.

The transcription factor, early growth response protein 1 (EGR1), is overexpressed in a majority of human prostate cancers and is implicated in the regulation of several genes important for prostate tumor progression. Here we have assessed the effect of Egr1 deficiency on tumor development in two transgenic mouse models of prostate cancer (CR2-T-Ag and TRAMP). Using a combination of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and histopathological and survival analyses, we show that tumor progression was significantly impaired in Egr1−/− mice. Tumor initiation and tumor growth rate were not affected by the lack of Egr1; however, Egr1 deficiency significantly delayed the progression from prostatic intra-epithelial neoplasia to invasive carcinoma. These results indicate a unique role for Egr1 in regulating the transition from localized, carcinoma in situ to invasive carcinoma.

Associations Between Early Life Stress and Gene Methylation in Children

Children exposed to extreme stress are at heightened risk for developing mental and physical disorders. However, little is known about mechanisms underlying these associations in humans. An emerging insight is that childrens social environments change gene expression, which contributes to biological vulnerabilities for behavioral problems. Epigenetic changes in the glucocorticoid receptor gene, a critical component of stress regulation, were examined in whole blood from 56 children aged 11–14 years. Children exposed to physical maltreatment had greater methylation within exon 1F in the NR3C1 promoter region of the gene compared to nonmaltreated children, including the putative NGFI-A (nerve growth factor) binding site. These results highlight molecular mechanisms linking childhood stress with biological changes that may lead to mental and physical disorders.

HDAC-mediated deacetylation of NF-κB is critical for Schwann cell myelination

Schwann cell myelination is tightly regulated by timely expression of key transcriptional regulators that respond to specific environmental cues, but the molecular mechanisms underlying such a process are poorly understood. We found that the acetylation state of NF-κB, which is regulated by histone deacetylases (HDACs) 1 and 2, is critical for orchestrating the myelination program. Mice lacking both HDACs 1 and 2 (HDAC1/2) exhibited severe myelin deficiency with Schwann cell development arrested at the immature stage. NF-κB p65 became heavily acetylated in HDAC1/2 mutants, inhibiting the expression of positive regulators of myelination and inducing the expression of differentiation inhibitors. We observed that the NF-κB protein complex switched from associating with p300 to associating with HDAC1/2 as Schwann cells differentiated. NF-κB and HDAC1/2 acted in a coordinated fashion to regulate the transcriptionally linked chromatin state for Schwann cell myelination. Thus, our results reveal an HDAC-mediated developmental switch for controlling myelination in the peripheral nervous system.

The transactivation domain of Pho4 is required for nucleosome disruption at the PHO5 promoter.

The chromatin structure of the PHO5 promoter is disrupted when the promoter is derepressed by phosphate starvation. The transactivator, Pho4, is primarily responsible for this change. We have used deletion mutations of Pho4 in order to determine which protein domains are involved in nucleosome dissolution. Our results show that the DNA binding domain by itself is not sufficient to trigger chromatin disruption, even when overexpressed. In vivo footprinting reveals that Pho4 derivatives lacking the N‐terminal activation domain can bind to UASp1, which resides in a constitutively nucleosome‐free region, but not to UASp2, which lies within a nucleosome in the repressed PHO5 promoter. The acidic activation domain of Pho4 appears to be involved in nucleosome disruption. Substitution of the native transactivation domain of Pho4 with that from VP16 results in substantial chromatin disruption. In every case, the ability of the Pho4 mutants to activate transcription correlates with their ability to disrupt nucleosome structure in the PHO5 promoter. Therefore, we conclude that the Pho4 activation domain has at least two roles: (i) to trigger disruption of nucleosome structure over the promoter, thereby facilitating the binding of transcription factors, and (ii) to interact with the transcriptional apparatus at the proximal promoter.

Nab proteins are essential for peripheral nervous system myelination

Mutations that disrupt Egr2 transcriptional activity cause severe demyelinating peripheral neuropathies. Here we provide evidence that Nab1 and Nab2 proteins are critical transcriptional modulators of Egr2 in myelinating Schwann cells. Like Egr2, these proteins are essential for Schwann cell differentiation into the myelinating state. Mice lacking both Nab1 and Nab2 show severe congenital hypomyelination of peripheral nerves, with Schwann cell development arresting at the promyelinating stage, despite elevated Egr2 expression. As observed for Egr2, Nab proteins are necessary for Schwann cells to exit the cell cycle, downregulate suppressed cAMP-inducible protein (SCIP) expression and upregulate expression of critical myelination genes. The mRNA expression signature of Schwann cells deficient in both Nab1 and Nab2 is highly similar to that of Egr2-deficient Schwann cells, further indicating that the Egr2/Nab protein complex is a key regulator of the Schwann cell myelination program and that disruption of this transcriptional complex is likely to result in Schwann cell dysfunction in patients with Egr2 mutations.