Expression of GHF-1 protein in mouse pituitaries correlates both temporally and spatially with the onset of growth hormone gene activity

P Dollé, JL Castrillo, LE Theill, T Deerinck, M Ellisman… - Cell, 1990 - cell.com
P Dollé, JL Castrillo, LE Theill, T Deerinck, M Ellisman, M Karin
Cell, 1990cell.com
The relationship between expression of the pituitaryspecific transcription factor, GHF-1, and
activation of, the growth hormone and prolactin genes during mouse anterior pituitary
development was investigated. While GHF-1 transcripts were detected within 24 hr of the,
first observable events in anterior pituitary differentia-, tion, no GHF-1 protein could be
detected until about, 3 days later. The appearance of GHF-1 protein showed good temporal
and spatial correlation with activation of the growth hormone gene. Prolactin gene …
Summary
The relationship between expression of the pituitaryspecific transcription factor, GHF-1, and activation of, the growth hormone and prolactin genes during mouse anterior pituitary development was investigated. While GHF-1 transcripts were detected within 24 hr of the, first observable events in anterior pituitary differentia-, tion, no GHF-1 protein could be detected until about, 3 days later. The appearance of GHF-1 protein showed good temporal and spatial correlation with activation of the growth hormone gene. Prolactin gene expression, on the other hand, was observed transiently during embryonic day 16 in two different populations of cells, of which the major one does not contain GHF-1 or growth hormone. These results suggest that ex-[pression of GHF-1 is controlled both transcriptionally and posttranscriptionally. The spatial and temporal correlation between the appearance of GHF-1 protein and growth hormone gene activation suggests that (GHF-1 is responsible for this very last step in the specialization of somatotrophic cells. llntroduction
‘The growth hormone (GH) gene family provides a useful paradigm for studying the regulation of cell-type-specific! gene expression. It consists of genes coding for the pituitary hormones, GH and prolactin (Prl), and others encoding various proteins that function as placental lactogens (Miller and Eberhardt, 1983; Nicoll et al., 1986; Colosi et al., 1988). The strict pituitary-specific expression of the GH gene is attributed to its promoter region, which contains two binding sites for transcription factor GHF-1 (Bodner and Karin, 1987; Karin, 1989). Purification of GHF-1 and molecular cloning of its cognate cDNA has identified it as a member of the superfamily of DNA binding proteins
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