Takashi Iioka

Functional domains of paired-like homeoprotein Cart1 and the relationship between dimerization and transcription activity.

Background: Cart1 encodes the paired‐like homeodomain in the central portion of the gene, and plays a crucial role in the developmental lineage of bone and cartilage, especially in head formation. However, its transactivation mechanism is still poorly understood, including the target gene. Here, we report biochemical dissections of Cart1 functional domains and a relationship between dimerization and transcription activity.

P300/CBP acts as a coactivator to cartilage homeoprotein-1 (Cart1), paired-like homeoprotein, through acetylation of the conserved lysine residue adjacent to the homeodomain.

The paired‐like homeoprotein, Cart1, is involved in skeletal development. We describe here that the general coactivator p300/CBP controls the transcription activity of Cart1 through acetylation of a lysine residue that is highly conserved in other homeoproteins. Acetylation of this residue increases the interaction between p300/CBP and Cart1 and enhances its transcriptional activation.