We previously reported that both sodium butyrate and trichostatin A (TSA), both of which are known as inhibitors of histone deacetylase, arrest human tumor cells at G1 and G2-M and activate the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, the p21/WAF1/Cip1 gene promoter, through the Sp1 sites. In this study, we identified Sp1 and Sp3 as major factors binding to the Sp1 sites of the p21/WAF1/Cip1 promoter...

Yan Y, Dalmasso G, Sitaraman S, Merlin D. Characterization of the human intestinal CD98 promoter and its regulation by interferon. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 292: G535–G545, 2007. First published October 5, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00385.2006.—Growing evidence that epithelial CD98 plays an important role in intestinal inflammation focused our interest to investigate the transcriptio...

Sp1 is a transcription factor for many genes, including genes involved in tumorigenesis. We found that human fibroblast cells malignantly transformed in culture by a carcinogen or by stable transfection of an oncogene express Sp1 at 8-fold to 18-fold higher levels than their parental cells. These cell lines form fibrosarcomas in athymic mice with a very short latency, and the cells from the tum...

Tat activates transcription by interacting with Sp1, NF-kappaB, positive transcription elongation factor b, and trans-activator-responsive element (TAR). Tat and Sp1 play major roles in transcription by protein-protein interactions at human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) long terminal repeat. Sp1 activates transcription by interacting with cyclin T1 in the absence of Tat. To disrupt the...

Phosphatidylcholine is made in all nucleated mammalian cells via the CDP-choline pathway. Another major pathway for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in liver is catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). We have now identified 3T3-L1 adipocytes as a cell culture model that expresses PEMT endogenously. We have found that PEMT mRNA and protein levels increased dramatically ...

Previously, we have identified a novel role for the cytoplasmic protein, synphilin-1(SP1), in the controls of food intake and body weight in both mice and Drosophila. Ubiquitous overexpression of human SP1 in brain neurons in transgenic mice results in hyperphagia expressed as an increase in meal size. However, the mechanisms underlying this action of SP1 remain to be determined. Here we invest...

We previous reported that Sp1 recruits c-Jun to the promoter of the 12(S)-lipoxygenase gene in 12-myristate 13-acetate-treated cells. We now show that Sp1 that recruited HDAC1 to the Sp1/cJun complex was constitutively acetylated when cells were exposed to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) (3 h). Prolonged stimulation of the cells with PMA (9 h), however, caused the dissociation of histone ...

The functional 5' flanking region of the human 12-lipoxygenase in epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells was characterized. By a primer extension method, the transcription initiation sites were mapped at -47 adenosine, -48 guanosine and -55 guanosine upstream of the ATG translation start codon. Transient transfection with a series of 5' and 3' deletion constructs showed that the 5' flanking region spa...

Sp1 is a transcription factor for many genes, including genes involved in tumorigenesis. We found that human fibroblast cells malignantly transformed in culture by a carcinogen or by stable transfection of an oncogene express Sp1 at 8-fold to 18fold higher levels than their parental cells. These cell lines form fibrosarcomas in athymic mice with a very short latency, and the cells from the tumo...

Atopic dermatitis is characterized by increased skin innervation. The expression of neurotrophin-4 is enhanced in the epidermal keratinocytes of lesions with atopic dermatitis and may be related to hyperinnervation in these lesions. Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) levels are increased in lesions with atopic dermatitis; thus, PGE(2) may be involved in the development of this disease. We examined the...