ABSTRACT
Inhibition of E-cadherin gene expression by transcription factor SNAIL is known to be a crucial element of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition; EMT. Epigenetic regulation of E-cadherin expression is regulated by SNAIL binding to E-box sequences in the CDH1 gene promoter and recruiting enzymes belonging to repressor complexes that are directly engaged in histone modifications and DNA methylation leading to the modification of chromatin structure. SNAIL involvement in cell acquisition of invasive phenotype is based on direct suppression of tight-junction and gap junction proteins. The nuclear localization of SNAIL is required for SNAIL activity and protects this factor from proteasomal degradation in the cytoplasm. The main factor engaged in that process is GSK- 3ß kinase. Expression and stability of SNAIL is regulated on the transctriptional and posttranscriptional levels by a number of signaling molecules and biological factors, for example: TGF-ß, TNF-α, ILK and NFκB. The expression of SNAIL in cancer cells is also regulated by micro-RNA, mainly by miR-34. Increased expression of SNAIL, observed in many human cancers, has been correlated with increased resistance to chemio-, radio - or immunotherapy, gain of cancer stem cells features and migrative and invasive characteristics, which leads to tumor metastases. Understanding of the SNAIL's mechanism of action may lead to new treatment strategies in cancer directed to interfere with signaling pathways that either activate SNAIL or are activated by SNAIL.
ABSTRACT
The alphaIIb/beta3-integrin receptor is present at high levels only in megakaryocytes and platelets. Its presence on platelets is critical for hemostasis. The tissue-specific nature of this receptor's expression is secondary to the restricted expression of alphaIIb, and studies of the alphaIIb proximal promoter have served as a model of a megakaryocyte-specific promoter. We have examined the alphaIIb gene locus for distal regulatory elements. Sequence comparison between the human (h) and murine (m) alphaIIb loci revealed high levels of conservation at intergenic regions both 5' and 3' to the alphaIIb gene. Additionally, deoxyribonuclease (DNase) I sensitivity mapping defined tissue-specific hypersensitive (HS) sites that coincide, in part, with these conserved regions. Transgenic mice containing various lengths of the h(alpha)IIb gene locus, which included or excluded the various conserved/HS regions, demonstrated that the proximal promoter was sufficient for tissue specificity, but that a region 2.5 to 7.1 kb upstream of the h(alpha)IIb gene was necessary for consistent expression. Another region 2.2 to 7.4 kb downstream of the gene enhanced expression 1000-fold and led to levels of h(alpha)IIb mRNA that were about 30% of the native m(alpha)IIb mRNA level. These constructs also resulted in detectable h(alpha)IIb/m(beta)3 on the platelet surface. This work not only confirms the importance of the proximal promoter of the alphaIIb gene for tissue specificity, but also characterizes the distal organization of the alphaIIb gene locus and provides an initial localization of 2 important regulatory regions needed for the expression of the alphaIIb gene at high levels during megakaryopoiesis.
