Direct induction of T lymphocyte-specific gene expression by the mammalian Notch signaling pathway

Boris Reizis; Philip Leder

doi:10.1101/gad.960702

Direct induction of T lymphocyte-specific gene expression by the mammalian Notch signaling pathway

Boris Reizis and
Philip Leder1

Department of Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

Abstract

The Notch signaling pathway regulates the commitment and early development of T lymphocytes. We studied Notch-mediated induction of the pre-T cell receptor α (pTa) gene, a T-cell-specific transcriptional target of Notch. The pTaenhancer was activated by Notch signaling and contained binding sites for its nuclear effector, CSL. Mutation of the CSL-binding sites abolished enhancer induction by Notch and delayed the up-regulation ofpTa transgene expression during T cell lineage commitment. These results show a direct mechanism of stage- and tissue-specific gene induction by the mammalian Notch/CSL signaling pathway.

Keywords

Footnotes

↵1 Corresponding author.
E-MAIL leder{at}rascal.med.harvard.edu; FAX: (617) 432-7944.
Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.960702.
- Received November 8, 2001.
- Accepted December 7, 2001.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press