Intrinsic DNA binding properties demonstrated for lineage-specifying basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors.

ABSTRACT: During development, transcription factors select distinct gene programs, providing the necessary regulatory complexity for temporal and tissue-specific gene expression. How related factors retain specificity, especially when they recognize the same DNA motifs, is not understood. We address this paradox using basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors ASCL1, ASCL2, and MYOD1, crucial mediators of lineage specification. In vivo, these factors recognize the same DNA motifs, yet bind largely different genomic sites and regulate distinct transcriptional programs. This suggests that their ability to identify regulatory targets is defined either by the cellular environment of the partially defined lineages in which they are endogenously expressed, or by intrinsic properties of the factor

SUBMITTER: Casey BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5880239 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature