Transcriptional regulator of programmed cell death encoded by Caenorhabditis elegans gene ces-2

被引:139
作者
Metzstein, MM [1 ]
Hengartner, MO [1 ]
Tsung, N [1 ]
Ellis, RE [1 ]
Horvitz, HR [1 ]
机构
[1] MIT,HOWARD HUGHES MED INST,DEPT BIOL,CAMBRIDGE,MA 02139
关键词
D O I
10.1038/382545a0
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
THE ces (for cell-death specification) genes of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans the cell-death fate of individual cell types and are candidates for being the regulators of an evolutionarily conserved general pathway of programmed cell death(1-4). Here we present what we believe is the first molecular characterization of a ces gene. We cloned the gene ces-2, which is required to activate programmed cell death in the sister cells of the serotoninergic neurosecretory motor (NSM) neurons, and found that ces-2 encodes a basic region leucine-zipper (bZIP) transcription factor. The CES-2 protein is most similar to members of the PAR (proline- and acid-rich) subfamily of bZIP proteins and has DNA-binding specificity like that of PAR-family proteins. An oncogenic form of the mammalian PAR-family protein, hepatic leukaemia factor (HLF), is reported to effect programmed cell death in mammalian cells(5). On the basis of these observations, we suggest that some CES-2/PAR family transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved regulators of programmed cell death.
引用
收藏
页码:545 / 547
页数:3
相关论文
共 26 条
[1]  
CAPOVILLA M, 1992, DEVELOPMENT, V114, P99
[2]   YACS AND THE C-ELEGANS GENOME [J].
COULSON, A ;
KOZONO, Y ;
LUTTERBACH, B ;
SHOWNKEEN, R ;
SULSTON, J ;
WATERSTON, R .
BIOESSAYS, 1991, 13 (08) :413-417
[3]   TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSION BY A NOVEL MEMBER OF THE BZIP FAMILY OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS [J].
COWELL, IG ;
SKINNER, A ;
HURST, HC .
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY, 1992, 12 (07) :3070-3077
[4]   TEF, A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR EXPRESSED SPECIFICALLY IN THE ANTERIOR-PITUITARY DURING EMBRYOGENESIS, DEFINES A NEW CLASS OF LEUCINE ZIPPER PROTEINS [J].
DROLET, DW ;
SCULLY, KM ;
SIMMONS, DM ;
WEGNER, M ;
CHU, K ;
SWANSON, LW ;
ROSENFELD, MG .
GENES & DEVELOPMENT, 1991, 5 (10) :1739-1753
[5]   THE GCN4 BASIC REGION LEUCINE ZIPPER BINDS DNA AS A DIMER OF UNINTERRUPTED ALPHA-HELICES - CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE OF THE PROTEIN-DNA COMPLEX [J].
ELLENBERGER, TE ;
BRANDL, CJ ;
STRUHL, K ;
HARRISON, SC .
CELL, 1992, 71 (07) :1223-1237
[6]  
ELLIS RE, 1991, DEVELOPMENT, V112, P591
[7]   CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE OF THE HETERODIMERIC BZIP TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR C-FOS-C-JUN BOUND TO DNA [J].
GLOVER, JNM ;
HARRISON, SC .
NATURE, 1995, 373 (6511) :257-261
[8]  
HAAS NB, 1995, MOL CELL BIOL, V15, P1923
[9]   Programmed cell death in invertebrates [J].
Hengartner, MO .
CURRENT OPINION IN GENETICS & DEVELOPMENT, 1996, 6 (01) :34-38
[10]   THE GENETICS OF PROGRAMMED CELL-DEATH IN THE NEMATODE CAENORHABDITIS-ELEGANS [J].
HORVITZ, HR ;
SHAHAM, S ;
HENGARTNER, MO .
COLD SPRING HARBOR SYMPOSIA ON QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY, 1994, 59 :377-385