Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

A B-cell coactivator of octamer-binding transcription factors

Nature volume 373, pages 360–362 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

THE octamer motif (ATGCAAAT) paradoxically plays a central role in mediating the activity of both B-cell specific and ubiquitous promoters. It has been widely assumed that the predominantly lymphoid-restricted octamer-binding factor Oct-2 mediates tissue-specific promoter activity, whereas the ubiquitously expressed Oct-1 mediates general promoter activity, but this view has been challenged1–6. Here we use a modified yeast one-hybrid assay to isolate a B-cell factor, Bobl, which associates with either Oct-2 or Oct-1. In transfection experiments, this factor boosts Oct-1-mediated promoter activity and to a lesser extent, that of Oct-2. This coactivation is strictly dependent on the specific interaction with Oct-1 or Oct-2 because deletion of the octamer motif abolishes coactivation. We conclude that Bobl could represent a new tissue-specific transcriptional coactivator which may convert a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor to a cell-type-specific activator.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Luo, Y., Fujii, H., Gerster, T. & Roeder, R. G. Cell 71, 231–241 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gerster, T., Balmaceda, C. G. & Roeder, R. G. EMBO J. 9, 1635–1643 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Corcoran, L. et al. Genes Dev. 7, 570–582 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pierani, A., Heguy, A., Fujii, H. & Roeder, R. G. Molec. cell. Biol. 10, 6204–6215 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Feldhaus, A., Klug, C., Arvin, K. & Singh, H. EMBO J. 12, 2763–2772 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kemler, I., Bucher, E., Seipel, K., Müller-lmmerglück, M. M. & Schaffner, W. Nucleic Acids Res. 19, 237–242 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, M. M. & Reed, R. R. Nature 364, 121–126 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Durfee, T. et al. Genes Dev. 7, 555–569 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rosenfeld, M. G. Genes Dev. 5, 897–907 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Herr, W. in Transcriptional Regulation 1103–1135 (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Schreiber, E., Tobler, A., Malipiero, U., Schaffner, W. & Fontana, A. Nucleic Acids Res. 21, 253–258 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Seipel, K., Georgiev, O. & Schaffner, W. EMBO J. 11, 4961–4968 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Jenuwein, T. & Grosschedl, R. Genes Dev. 5, 932–943 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Müller-lmmerglück, M. M., Schaffner, W. & Matthias, P. EMBO J. 9, 1625–1634 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rose, M. & Botstein, D. J. molec. Biol. 170, 883–904 (1983).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Devereux, J., Haeberli, P. & Smithies, O. Nucleic Acids Res. 12, 387–395 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dobner, T., Wolf, I., Emrich, T. & Lipp, M. Eur. J. Immun. 22, 2795–2799 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Arnosti, D. N. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 21, 5570–5576 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Gorski, K., Carneiro, M. & Schibler, U. Cell 47, 767–776 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Höller, M., Westin, G., Jiricny, J. & Schaffner, W. Genes Dev. 2, 1127–1135 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Strubin, M., Newell, J. W. & Matthias, P. Cell (in the press).

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Christopher M. Hovens

    Present address: Institut für Medizinische Virologie der Universität Zürich, Gloriastrasse 30, CH-8028, Zürich, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Molekularbiologie II der Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    Matthias Gstaiger, Lea Knoepfel, Oleg Georgiev & Walter Schaffner

Authors
  1. Matthias Gstaiger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lea Knoepfel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Oleg Georgiev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Walter Schaffner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Christopher M. Hovens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gstaiger, M., Knoepfel, L., Georgiev, O. et al. A B-cell coactivator of octamer-binding transcription factors. Nature 373, 360–362 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/373360a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/373360a0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing