NF-Y transcriptionally regulates the Drosophila p53 gene

The p53 protein is important in multicellular organisms, where it regulates the cell cycle and thus functions as a tumor suppressor that contributes to preventing cancer. However, molecular regulation of p53 gene expression is not fully understood. NF-YA is a subunit of the NF-Y trimeric complex, a transcription factor that binds to CCAAT motifs in the promoter regions of a variety of genes playing key roles in cell cycle regulation. We have identified four potential Drosophila NF-Y (dNF-Y)-binding sites located in the 5'-flanking region of the Drosophila p53 (dmp53) gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses using anti-dNF-YA antibodies confirmed that dNF-YA binds specifically to the genomic region containing CCAAT boxes in the dmp53 gene promoter in vivo. Furthermore, the thorax disclosed phenotype of dNF-YA knockdown flies can be enhanced by dmp53 mutation. In addition, the level of dmp53 mRNA was found to be decreased in the dNF-YA knockdown cells and transient expression of the luciferase gene revealed that wild-type dmp53 gene promoter activity is much stronger than mutated promoter activity in S2 cells. The requirement of CCAAT boxes for dmp53 promoter activity was further confirmed by expression of EGFP in various tissues from transgenic flies carrying wild-type and CCAAT box-mutated versions of dmp53 promoter-GFP fusion genes. These results taken together indicate that dNF-Y is necessary for dmp53 gene promoter activity.