The members of the ubiquitously expressed E-protein subfamily of basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) transcription factors, E12/E47, SEF2-1 and HEB, have important roles as regulators of gene expression in various differentiation processes, including lymphocyte development and myogenesis. In myogenesis, E-proteins are proposed to function as obligate heterodimer partners for members of the MyoD family of muscle-specific bHLH transcription factors. The calcium ion (Ca2+) is a universal cellular messenger involved in regulation of a variety of cellular functions, including transcription. The Ca2+-bound form of the Ca2+-binding protein calmodulin (Ca2+/CaM) has been shown to inhibit DNA binding of E-proteins, but not tissue specific bHLH transcription factors, through direct physical interaction with the DNA binding basic sequence. The main focus of this thesis is on the role of Ca2+-binding proteins in regulation of bHLH transcription factors. Solution structure analysis of CaM in complex with the CaM-binding basic sequence of an E-protein revealed a novel type of protein-protein interaction with alternative binding modes in a complex of a CaM dimer surrounding the dimer of the E-protein sequence. This model for the interaction was further supported by mutational analysis, since every amino-acid substitution in the CaM binding basic sequence of E12 only partially affected the interaction with CaM. The mechanism of Ca2+/CaM regulation of transcriptional activation by E-proteins was studied using a cell culture system. CaM overexpression inhibited transcriptional activation by E12, E47 and SEF2-1 but not by MyoD. Ca2+/CaM inhibition of DNA binding in vitro directly correlated with the inhibitory effects of Ca2+ stimulation and CaM overexpression on transcription in vivo in a series of E12 basic sequence mutants. Furthermore, in vivo DNA binding of E12, but not a CaM resistant mutant of E12, was inhibited by overexpression of CaM. The data indicate that Ca2+/CaM can inhibit transcriptional activation by E-proteins through formation of a CaM-E-protein complex that can not bind DNA. An in vitro myogenesis system was used to investigate the potential role of the CaM-E-protein interaction in regulation of differentiation. CaM resistant mutants of E12 were inhibitory in MyoD initiated myogenic conversion of transfected fibroblasts, and inducers of intracellular Ca2+ activated, and Ca2+-channel blockers inhibited, transcriptional activation by E12, but not by a CaM resistant mutant of E12, with MyoD. The data support a model that Ca2+/CaM plays a role in initiation of myogenic differentiation through inhibition of E-protein dimers that can function as competitors to the CaM resistant MyoD/E-protein heterodimers required for myogenesis. The potential involvement of the Ca2+-binding calretinin proteins in regulation of bHLH transcription factors was also studied. Calretinin and the alternative splice variant calretinin-22k have been proposed to function as Ca2+-buffer proteins. Calretinin expression is restricted primarily to neuronal tissues. Calretinin and calretinin-22k are also found expressed in colon cancers, but not in normal colon tissue, and a role for calretinins in tumorigenesis has been proposed. We show that calretinins can inhibit DNA binding and transcriptional activation by E12 through basic sequence interaction. Endogenous E12/E47 and calretinin co-localize in a subset of cells in a proliferating colon cancer cell line and can be co-immunoprecipitated from the cell extract. A model is proposed in which calretinin overexpression can contribute to tumorigenesis through inhibition of the anti-proliferative function of E-proteins. The role of the E-protein E2-2 in lymphocyte development was studied using genetically altered mice with mosaic deletion of the E2-2 gene. The proportion of cells with a functional E2-2 allele was increased in the B- and T-lymphocyte populations, indicating a role for E2-2 not only in B-cell development, as reported before, but also in T-cell development.

Lymphocytes are essential for the generation of specific immunity. Development of B cells in the bone marrow and T cells in the thymus have several analogous features, and are tightly regulated processes. Even though there is an increasing amount of information concerning lymphopoiesis, a lot of questions remain. The aim of this thesis has been to understand some of the molecular events that contribute to the control of lymphocyte development. Expression of the B cell receptor is an important checkpoint in B lymphocyte development. The Dµ protein is a truncated B cell receptor that can induce some of the signals elicited by full length µ, but cannot promote further B cell differentiation. In order to determine if this could stem from an impaired survival signal, we introduced Bcl-2 into RAG2 deficient Dµ transgenic mice. Analysis of these mice showed that Dµ could not support pre-B cell maturation despite extended survival of B cell precursors by Bcl-2. In addition, data from recombination competent Dµ transgenic mice demonstrated that the Dµ induced partial block is permissive for marginal zone B cell development, whereas the formation of follicular B cells is severely reduced. The bHLH family of transcription factors is known to be involved in the regulation of lymphocyte development. Whereas the roles of E2A and HEB have been well documented in both B- and T-lymphocytes, detailed knowledge concerning E2-2 is lacking. To address the role of E2-2 in B cell development, we have reconstituted mice, using E2-2 deficient fetal liver cells, and analysed the B cell compartments. We also measured mRNA expression patterns for the three E-proteins in wildtype mice. Resulting data show that, in addition to a role in B cell lineage entry, E2-2 is required for efficient expansion of pro-B cells, and also influences the follicular versus marginal zone decision. While focusing on assigning a role for E2-2 in T-cell development, we analyzed the expression of the E-proteins during this process and performed functional studies in fetal thymic organ cultures. E2-2 deficient mouse embryos were shown to display a partial block at the DN3 stage, which was not due to proliferation or apoptosis defects. In addition, analysis of expression levels of the pre-Talpha chain suggests that E2-2 may play a role in the regulation of transcription of pre-Talpha, and therefore in the assembly of the pre-T cell receptor.