T-bet antagonizes mSin3a recruitment and transactivates a fully methylated IFN-gamma promoter via a conserved T-box half-site.

ABSTRACT: Promoter DNA methylation is a major epigenetic mechanism for silencing genes and establishing commitment in cells differentiating from their precursors. The transcription factor T-bet is a key determinant of IFN-gamma gene expression in helper T cells, but the mechanisms by which it achieves this effect are not clear. It is shown here that T-bet binds to a highly conserved T-box half-site in the IFN-gamma promoter, is recruited to the endogenous IFN-gamma promoter in T lymphoid cells, and transactivates gene expression through this sequence in a manner dependent on consensus T-box residues. This conserved promoter site is methylated in a model T cell line, and enforced T-bet expression did not alter its complete methylation. T-bet transactivated the conserved core promoter in transfection

SUBMITTER: Tong Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC548570 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature