Transcription factor interactions and chromatin modifications associated with p53-mediated, developmental repression of the alpha-fetoprotein gene.

p53 targets chromatin structure alteration to repress alpha-fetoprotein gene expression.

Many of the functions ascribed to p53 tumor suppressor protein are mediated through transcription regulation. We have shown that p53 represses hepatic-specific alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene expression by direct interaction with a composite HNF-3/p53 DNA binding element. Using solid-phase, chromatin-assembled AFP DNA templates and analysis of chromatin structure and transcription in vitro, we fin...

A Direct Intersection between p53 and Transforming Growth Factor Pathways Targets Chromatin Modification and Transcription Repression of the -Fetoprotein Gene†

P-209: Decreased Expression of Histone Acetyltransferase CDY1 Gene in Testis Tissue May Lead to Decreased Expression of Transition Protein (TNP) and Protamine (PRM) Genes,Causing Male Infertility

Background: Infertility is a complex medical problem. About 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility being involved in roughly 50% of the cases. Among these, many cases are associated with a severe impairment of spermatogenesis. During the last stage of spermatogenesis (spermiogenesis), sperm chromatin endures complex modifications in which histones are lost and depositioned with tran...

Mechanisms of transcriptional repression by histone lysine methylation.

During development, covalent modification of both, histones and DNA contribute to the specification and maintenance of cell identity. Repressive modifications are thought to stabilize cell type specific gene expression patterns, reducing the likelihood of reactivation of lineage-unrelated genes. In this report, we review the recent literature to deduce mechanisms underlying Polycomb and H3K9 me...

Zinc finger protein ZBTB20 is a key repressor of alpha-fetoprotein gene transcription in liver.

The alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene is highly activated in fetal liver but is dramatically repressed shortly after birth. The mechanisms that underlie AFP transcriptional repression in postpartum liver are not well understood. AFP enhancer, repressor region, and promoter are implicated to be involved in AFP postnatal repression, but the major transcriptional repressor remains undefined. We previou...