Transcriptional activation through the tetrameric complex formation of E4TF1 subunits

Transcription factor E4TF1 is composed of two types of subunit, an ets-related DNA binding protein, E4TF1-60, and its associated proteins with four tandemly repeated Notch-ankyrin motifs, E4TF1-53 and E4TF1-47. To determine the functional domains, we constructed various mutants of the subunits. E4TF1-60 bound to DNA as a monomer. The ets domain and its N-terminal flanking region were necessary to recognize the specific DNA sequence. The 48 amino acids at the E4TF1-60 C-terminus were required for interaction with the other type of subunit. E4TF1-53 and E4TF1-47 share the N-terminal 332 amino acids but differ at the C-termini. They interacted with E4TF1-60 through the N-terminal flanking region to form a heterodimer. E4TF1-53 dimerized with itself, whereas E4TF1-47 did not. The C-terminal region specific for E4TF1-53 was required for the dimerization. Therefore, heterodimers composed of E4TF1-53 and E4TF1-60 were further dimerized, resulting in the formation of a tetrameric complex, which stimulated transcription in vitro. Heterodimers of E4TF1-47 and E4TF1-60 weakly stimulated transcription in vitro. The results indicated that the tetrameric complex formation of E4TF1 subunits was necessary to activate transcription efficiently in vitro.