The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification.
T-box proteins are conserved transcription factors that play crucial roles in development of all metazoans; and, in humans, mutations affecting T-box genes are associated with a variety of congenital diseases and cancers. Despite the importance of this transcription factor family, very little is kno...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-08-01
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| Series: | PLoS Genetics |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3154951?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811195906228224000 |
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| author | Raymond R Miller Peter G Okkema |
| author_facet | Raymond R Miller Peter G Okkema |
| author_sort | Raymond R Miller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | T-box proteins are conserved transcription factors that play crucial roles in development of all metazoans; and, in humans, mutations affecting T-box genes are associated with a variety of congenital diseases and cancers. Despite the importance of this transcription factor family, very little is known regarding how T-box factors regulate gene expression. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome contains 21 T-box genes, and their characterized functions include cell fate specification in a variety of tissues. The C. elegans Tbx1 sub-family member MLS-1 functions during larval development to specify the fate of non-striated uterine muscles; and, in mls-1 mutants, uterine muscles are transformed to a vulval muscle fate. Here we demonstrate that MLS-1 function depends on binding to the Groucho-family co-repressor UNC-37. MLS-1 interacts with UNC-37 via a conserved eh1 motif, and the MLS-1 eh1 motif is necessary for MLS-1 to specify uterine muscle fate. Moreover, unc-37 loss-of-function produces uterine muscle to vulval muscle fate transformation similar to those observed in mls-1 mutants. Based on these results, we conclude that MLS-1 specifies uterine muscle fate by repressing target gene expression, and this function depends on interaction with UNC-37. Moreover, we suggest that MLS-1 shares a common mechanism for transcriptional repression with related T-box factors in other animal phyla. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:50:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-547f928c356a49889e7611e90fb53edd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-7390 1553-7404 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:50:15Z |
| publishDate | 2011-08-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-547f928c356a49889e7611e90fb53edd2022-12-22T03:54:45ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042011-08-0178e100221010.1371/journal.pgen.1002210The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification.Raymond R MillerPeter G OkkemaT-box proteins are conserved transcription factors that play crucial roles in development of all metazoans; and, in humans, mutations affecting T-box genes are associated with a variety of congenital diseases and cancers. Despite the importance of this transcription factor family, very little is known regarding how T-box factors regulate gene expression. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome contains 21 T-box genes, and their characterized functions include cell fate specification in a variety of tissues. The C. elegans Tbx1 sub-family member MLS-1 functions during larval development to specify the fate of non-striated uterine muscles; and, in mls-1 mutants, uterine muscles are transformed to a vulval muscle fate. Here we demonstrate that MLS-1 function depends on binding to the Groucho-family co-repressor UNC-37. MLS-1 interacts with UNC-37 via a conserved eh1 motif, and the MLS-1 eh1 motif is necessary for MLS-1 to specify uterine muscle fate. Moreover, unc-37 loss-of-function produces uterine muscle to vulval muscle fate transformation similar to those observed in mls-1 mutants. Based on these results, we conclude that MLS-1 specifies uterine muscle fate by repressing target gene expression, and this function depends on interaction with UNC-37. Moreover, we suggest that MLS-1 shares a common mechanism for transcriptional repression with related T-box factors in other animal phyla.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3154951?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Raymond R Miller Peter G Okkema The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. PLoS Genetics |
| title | The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. |
| title_full | The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. |
| title_fullStr | The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. |
| title_short | The Caenorhabditis elegans T-box factor MLS-1 requires Groucho co-repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification. |
| title_sort | caenorhabditis elegans t box factor mls 1 requires groucho co repressor interaction for uterine muscle specification |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3154951?pdf=render |
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