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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Investigating Mast Cell Secretory Granules; from Biosynthesis to Exocytosis
Published on: January 26, 2015
The function of MITF and associated proteins in mast cells
1Department of Biochemistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, P.O. Box 12272, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel.
Abstract:
Mutation of microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) results in deafness, bone loss, small eyes, and poorly pigmented eyes and skin. The primary cell types affected in MITF-deficient mice are melanocytes, osteoclasts and mast cells. A search for MITF-associated proteins, using a mast cell library that was screened with a construct that encodes the basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (bHLH-Zip) domain of MITF, resulted in the isolation of the protein kinase C interacting (PKCI) protein 1 and protein inhibitor of activated STAT3 (PIAS3). We have accumulated clear evidence of a function for these two proteins as repressors of MITF-induced transcriptional activity. Here, we describe this evidence and ideas that give some insight into the cellular network of interactions between various transcription factors and MITF.
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