To understand the molecular pathogenesis of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine (OPLL), an ectopic bone formation disease, we performed cDNA microarray analysis on cultured ligament cells from OPLL patients to understand the molecular pathogenesis of OPLL. We identified promyelotic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) as one of upregulated genes and tumor necrosis factor-α-s...

PLZF-expressing invariant natural killer T cells and CD4 T cells are unique subsets of innate T cells. Both are selected via thymocyte-thymocyte interaction, and they contribute to the generation of activated/memory-like CD4 and CD8 T cells in the thymus via the production of IL-4. Here, we investigated whether PLZF(+) innate T cells also affect the development and function of Foxp3(+) regulato...

Hyperactivity of mTORC1, a key mediator of cell growth, leads to stem cell depletion, although the underlying mechanisms are poorly defined. Using spermatogonial progenitor cells (SPCs) as a model system, we show that mTORC1 impairs stem cell maintenance by a negative feedback from mTORC1 to receptors required to transduce niche-derived signals. We find that SPCs lacking Plzf, a transcription f...

BACKGROUND AIMS Current treatment target toward advanced colorectal cancers is mainly focused on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling, but its additive effects with chemotherapy are still limited. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) cleaves the proheparin-binding epidermal growth factor like growth factor (proHB-EGF). And soluble HB-EGF activates EGFR. In parallel, the c...

Th17 cells, which express the chemokine receptor CCR6, are implicated in many immune-mediated disorders, such as psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. We found that expression levels of CCR6 on human effector/memory CD4(+) T cells reflect a continuum of Th17 differentiation. By evaluating the transcriptome in cells with increasing CCR6, we detected progressive upregulation of ZBTB16, which encodes ...

Transcription factor GATA-2 is implicated in the survival and growth of multipotential progenitors. Here we report that the promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) protein can interact with GATA-2 and can modify its transactivation capacity. Fanconi anemia zinc finger (FAZF), a PLZF-homologous protein that has been variously described as ROG (repressor of GATA), and TZFP (testis zinc finger p...

Transcriptional pathways controlling the development of CD44(hi) memory phenotype (MP) T cells with "innate-like" functions are not well understood. Here we show that the BTB (bric-a-brac, tramtrack, broad complex) domain-containing protein promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) is expressed in CD44(hi), but not in CD44(lo), CD4(+) T cells. Transgenic expression of PLZF during T cell develop...

The refractoriness of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) with t(11;17)(q23;q21) to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-based therapy concerns clinicians and intrigues basic researchers. By using a murine leukemic model carrying both promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger/retinoic acid receptor-α (PLZF/RARα) and RARα/PLZF fusion genes, we discovered that 8-chlorophenylthio adenosine-3', 5'-cyclic monopho...

The evolutionarily conserved BTB/POZ domain from the promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) oncoprotein mediates transcriptional repression through the recruitment of corepressor proteins containing histone deacetylases in acute promyelocytic leukemia. We have determined the 2.0 A crystal structure of the BTB/POZ domain from PLZF (PLZF-BTB/POZ), and have carried out biochemical analysis of P...

In acute promyelocytic leukemia, granulocytic differentiation is arrested at the promyelocyte stage. The variant t(11;17) translocation produces two fusion proteins, promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger-retinoic acid receptor α (PLZF-RARα) and RARα-PLZF, both of which participate in leukemia development. Here we provide evidence that the activity of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), a ma...