Selective down-regulation of tyrosinase family gene TYRP1 by inhibition of the activity of melanocyte transcription factor, MITF.

ABSTRACT: Tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TYRP1/gp75) and dopachrome tautomerase (DCT/TYRP2) belong to a family of melanocyte-specific gene products involved in melanin pigmentation. During melanocyte development expression of tyrosinase family genes is thought to be orchestrated in part by the binding of a shared basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor MITF to the M box, a regulatory element conserved among these genes. In transformed melanocytes, expression of tyrosinase and TYRPs is highly variable. Whereas TYR expression in melanoma cells is regulated by both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms, TYRP1/gp75 transcription is often completely extinguished during melanoma tumor progression. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of selective repression of TYR

SUBMITTER: Fang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC135745 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature