Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 30, 2026

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Assay for Tissue-specific Genes using Early-stage Mouse Embryos
Published on: April 29, 2011
p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase-, calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-, and calcineurin-mediated
1Department of Biochemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In this report, we identify myogenin as an important transcriptional target under the control of three intracellular signaling pathways, namely, the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase- (MAPK), calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase- (CaMK), and calcineurin-mediated pathways, during skeletal muscle differentiation. Three cis-elements (i.e., the E box, myocyte enhancer factor [MEF] 2, and MEF3 sites) in the proximal myogenin promoter in response to these three pathways are defined. MyoD, MEF2s, and Six proteins, the trans-activators bound to these cis-elements, are shown to be activated by these signaling pathways. Our data support a model in which all three signaling pathways act in parallel but nonredundantly to control myogenin expression. Inhibition of any one pathway will result in abolished or reduced myogenin expression and subsequent phenotypic differentiation. In addition, we demonstrate that CaMK and calcineurin fail to activate MEF2s in Rhabdomyosarcoma-derived RD cells. For CaMK, we show its activation in response to differentiation signals and its effect on the cytoplasmic translocation of histone deacetylases 5 are not compromised in RD cells, suggesting histone deacetylases 5 cytoplasmic translocation is necessary but not sufficient, and additional signal is required in conjunction with CaMK to activate MEF2 proteins.
Related Concept Videos
Master Transcription Regulators
Calmodulin-dependent Signaling
The Ca2+-CaM complex does not have enzymatic activity by itself. Instead, the complex binds downstream target proteins, including membrane proteins or enzymes,...
MAPK Signaling Cascades
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The heterodimer of NF-κB...
Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins

