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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.

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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
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  2. Lea Knoepfel
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  3. Oleg Georgiev
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  4. Walter Schaffner
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  5. Christopher M. Hovens
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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

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