Activation of early gene expression in T lymphocytes by Oct-1 and an inducible protein, OAP40

K S Ullman1, W M Flanagan, C A Edwards

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, CA 94305.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|October 25, 1991
PubMed

After antigenic stimulation of T lymphocytes, genes essential for proliferation and immune function, such as the interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene, are transcriptionally activated. In both transient transfections and T lymphocyte-specific in vitro transcription, the homeodomain-containing protein Oct-1 participated in the inducible regulation of transcription of the IL-2 gene. Oct-1 functioned in this context with a 40-kilodalton protein called Oct-1-associated protein (OAP40). In addition to interacting specifically with DNA, OAP40 reduced the rate of dissociation of Oct-1 from its cognate DNA-binding site, suggesting that a direct interaction exists between Oct-1 and OAP40.

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