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A D Sharrocks

Publications and source records attributed to A D Sharrocks.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Phosphorylation of transcription factor p62TCF by MAP kinase stimulates ternary complex formation at c-fos promoter.

Transcription of the proto-oncogene c-fos is stimulated rapidly and transiently by serum growth factors and mitogens. Critical for this response is the serum-response element which is bound in vivo in a ternary complex containing the transcription factors p67SRF and p62TCF (ref. 2). Disruption of the ternary complex correlates with impaired induction by serum and phorbol ester. Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase is a serine/threonine kinase which is activated 1-5 minutes after treatment of cells with mitogens and growth factors that induce re-entry into the cell cycle, making MAP kinase a candidate for the transmission of proliferative signals. Here we show that p62TCF is phosphorylated by MAP kinase in vitro and that phosphorylation results in enhanced ternary complex formation. Serum-starved Swiss 3T3 cells treated with epidermal growth factor, which induces MAP kinase in these cells, are induced to express c-fos and yield p62TCF active in ternary complex formation. In contrast, treatment of Swiss 3T3 cells with insulin, which does not activate MAP kinase under these conditions, does not lead to enhanced ternary complex formation nor does it induce c-fos transcription. Our results link the expression of the human c-fos proto-oncogene to signal transduction pathways known to be activated before its own induction.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1992

Purification of HlyX, a potential regulator of haemolysin synthesis, and properties of HlyX:FNR hybrids.

The hlyX gene of the swine pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is homologous to FNR, an anaerobic transcriptional regulator of Escherichia coli. It endows a haemolytic phenotype upon E. coli, and will complement the anaerobic respiratory deficiencies of fnr mutants of E. coli. The coding region of the hlyX gene was expressed in E. coli and the HlyX protein was purified by using an assay based on its immunological cross-reactivity with anti-FNR antibodies. The HlyX protein had the predicted N-terminal sequence, and resembled the isolated FNR protein in size (Mr 29,000) and monomeric organization. It has no detectable haemolysin activity per se, and is therefore presumed to confer a haemolytic phenotype by activating a latent haemolysin gene in E. coli. Studies with gene fusions showed that HlyX, like FNR, can function as an anaerobic activator and repressor of FNR-regulated genes in vivo. Plasmids that express hybrid HlyX:FNR proteins in which the 189/190-residue N-terminal segments and the remaining 50/60-residue C-terminal segments are exchanged, retained their FNR-specific functions but failed to confer a haemolytic phenotype. This suggests that the specificity for activating the haemolytic response requires the participation of unique features in both the N- and C-terminal segments of HlyX.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae↗
PubMed1991

FNR activates and represses transcription in vitro.

FNR is an iron-binding transcriptional regulator for anaerobic gene expression in Escherichia coli. Footprinting studies with the purified protein have confirmed that it is a site-specific DNA-binding protein. Transcription tests with the positively-regulated FFmelR promoter and the negatively-regulated ndh promoter likewise demonstrated that FNR can activate or repress transcription in vitro. Reducing conditions were not required but activity was abolished by substituting an essential cysteine residue with alanine (C122A) and the affinity for DNA was reduced by iron-depletion. The start point(s) for transcription of the FNR-repressed NADH dehydrogenase II gene (ndh) were identified by transcript mapping and the corresponding promoter (-35 and -10 sequences) was located immediately downstream of the FNR-binding site.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1991

Transcriptional analysis of the restriction and modification genes of bacteriophage P1.

Bacteriophage P1 res and mod genes encode the restriction and modification polypeptides of the Type III restriction enzyme EcoP1. Northern blot analysis using res- and mod-specific probes revealed the presence of two separate transcripts in strains harbouring the EcoP1 restriction and modification genes. Furthermore, by constructing a series of fusions with a promoter less lacZ gene, we show that both the res and mod genes are transcribed from separate promoters. A more detailed investigation of the mod promoter region revealed two promoters located some 70 and 140bp upstream from the translational start codon. In addition, another pair of promoters and a further separate promoter are located more than 500bp upstream from this start codon. Two short open reading frames are located between these distal and proximal promoter clusters. Transcription of the res gene is initiated from within the mod open reading frame from two adjacent promoters. In addition a functional promoter is located on the antisense strand close to the res promoter region. The relationship between the transcription units of the res and mod genes is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

S1 nuclease transcript mapping using sequenase-derived single-stranded probes.

We report here a simple method for the production of high specific activity single-stranded DNA probes for S1 nuclease transcript mapping. Plasmid DNA is used as in vitro DNA templates for probe production by primer extension using Sequenase. This allows the production of long single-stranded probes without the need to subclone restriction fragments into M13 vectors. The mapping of the 5' ends of the phage P1 mod gene transcripts is shown as an example.

Bacteriophages↗
PubMed1990

In vivo and in vitro mutants of FNR the anaerobic transcriptional regulator of E. coli.

FNR regulates the expression of target genes in response to anaerobiosis. It resembles the catabolite gene activator or cAMP-receptor protein (CRP) except for the presence of an N-terminal cysteine cluster, which may form a redox-sensing iron-binding site. Site-directed mutagenesis has shown that 3 of the 4 cysteine residues in the N-terminal cluster (Cys-20, -23 and -29, but not Cys-16) and the only other cysteine residue (Cys-122), are essential for the normal activation and repression of FNR-dependent promoters. Deletion of residues Pro-3-Arg-9 (inclusive) had no effect, but FNR was inactivated by a frameshift extending through the C-terminal DNA-binding domain. Four independent in vivo mutants contained identical Gly-96----Asp substitutions, which may inactivate FNR by distorting a sharp turn between beta-strands in the predicted structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗