PEA3, ERM, and ER81 comprise a subfamily of ETS transcription factors that upregulate genes correlated with an increased metastastic potential of tumors. In mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF) cells, PEA3 is required for transformation by activated Ras or Neu, but the means by which PEA3 mediates Ras-transformation is not clear. Osteopontin (OPN) expression is induced upon B-ras-transformation and purified PEA3 can bind the OPN promoter by gel-shift analysis. In this study, OPN expressed higher transcript levels in the wildtype MEF 4 cell line than the PEA3 null MEF 1 cell line and was further characterized as a potential PEA3 target gene by Northern blot analyses and transient transfection studies. Northern blot analyses of 4 wildtype MEF (4, 100, 101, 104), 5 FEA3 null MEF (1, 115, B5, B10, B12), and 5 MEF 1 retransformant cell lines that stably reexpress PEA3 showed a good correlation between OPN and ERM transcript levels in 9/11 cell lines although at least 2 PEA3 subfamily members were coexpressed in 8/11 cell lines that expressed high OPN transcript levels. This suggested that the PEA3 subfamily additively regulated OPN and that ERM protein was more abundant than PEA3 and ER81 protein levels in the MEF cell lines. The relative PEA3 subfamily protein levels remain to be clarified. Transient transfection assays in the HEK 293-1 C cell line indicated that the OPN promoter was responsive to PEA3 and that the promoter region between -258 to -88 was required for maximal OPN promoter activity. There are 16 candidate core ETS binding sites in the -777 /+79 OPN promoter which could be responsible for PEA3 subfamily transactivation. The OPN promoter was more active in the MEF 4 cell line than the MEF 1 cell line, corresponding to their relative number of expressed PEA3 subfamily members. Ectopic expression of dominant negative PEA3 suppress ed OPN promoter activity in the MEF 4 cell line. Furthermore, ectopic expression of PEA3, ERM, or ER81 increased OPN promoter activity in the MEF 1 or COS-1 cell line. Thus OPN is transcriptionally regulated by the PEA3 subfamily and represents a target gene that can mediate the progression of tumor cells. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22679 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Wong, Joan |
| Contributors | Hassell, J. A., Biology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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