The activity of the M isoform of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF-M) has been attributed to regulation of differentiation, proliferation, survival and senescence of melanoma cells. MITF expression was shown to be antagonized by the activation of transcription factor NF-κB. Parthenolide, an inhibitor of NF-κB, has not been yet reported to affect MITF-M expression. Our results...

The first neural crest cells to emigrate from the neural tube are specified as neurons and glial cells and are subsequently followed by melanocytes of the skin. We wished to understand how this fate switch is controlled. The transcriptional repressor FOXD3 is expressed exclusively in the neural/glial precursors and MITF is expressed only in melanoblasts. Moreover, FOXD3 represses melanogenesis....

Otx and Mitf transcription factors have been implicated in the development of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), but the relationship between these factors and their specific roles in the development of the RPE have not been fully defined. The role of the three Otx transcription factors (Otx1a, Otx1b, and Otx2) and two Mitf transcription factors (Mitfa and Mitfb) in the development of the ...

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a master regulator of melanocyte development and an important oncogene in melanoma. MITF heterodimeric assembly with related basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factors is highly restricted, and its binding profile to cognate DNA sequences is distinct. Here, we determined the crystal structure of MITF in its apo conformati...

Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation generates multiple transcript variants producing mRNA isoforms with different length 3'-UTRs. Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation enables differential post-transcriptional regulation via the availability of different cis-acting elements in 3'-UTRs. Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a master regulator of melanocyte development ...

The microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf) is a basic-helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLH-ZIP) transcription factor essential for the development and function of all melanin-producing pigment cells in vertebrates. To elucidate the evolutionary history of Mitf and the antiquity of its association with pigment cells, we have isolated and characterized HrMitf, a sole member of the...

PURPOSE Development of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is controlled by intrinsic and extrinsic regulators including orthodenticle homeobox 2 (Otx2) and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, respectively. Otx2 and β-catenin are necessary for the expression of the RPE key regulator microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf); however, neither factor is sufficient to promote Mitf expression i...

Malignant melanoma is a neoplasm of melanocytes, and the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is essential for the existence of melanocytes. MITF's relevance for this cell lineage is maintained in melanoma, where it is an important regulator of survival and balances melanoma cell proliferation with terminal differentiation (pigmentation). The MITF gene is amplified in ~20% of m...

The Mitf-Tfe family of basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLH-Zip) transcription factors encodes four family members: Mitf, Tfe3, Tfeb, and Tfec. In vitro, each protein in the family can bind DNA as a homo- or heterodimer with other family members. Mutational studies in mice have shown that Mitf is essential for melanocyte and eye development, whereas Tfeb is required for placental vascula...

MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) is a basic-helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLHZip) factor which regulates expression of tyrosinase and other melanocytic genes via a CATGTG promoter sequence, and is involved in melanocyte differentiation. Mutations of MITF in mice or humans with Waardenburg syndrome type 2 (WS2) often severely disrupt the bHLHZip domain, suggesting the im...