水稻热休克转录因子OsHSF13的克隆与生物信息学的初步分析(简报)

环境刺激的信号转导是植物信号转导的一个重要研究方向。热激反应(heat-shockresponse,HSR)是动植物细胞或器官在遇到外界热刺激时所产生的一种保护性反应,是正常的蛋白质合成受阻时产生热激蛋白(heat-shockprotein,HSP)的一种细胞生理活动,其表达通过热休克转录因子(heat-shock factor,HSF)来进行调控[1]。编码热激蛋白基因的启动子区域存在着一段保守的DNA序列,是热休克转录因子的结合位点(heat-shockelement,HSE)。当植物受到外界的热刺激时,HSF可以与HSE特异性结合,激活热激蛋白基因的表达,     

Cooperative binding of Drosophila heat shock factor to arrays of a conserved 5 bp unit

Drosophila heat shock factor (HSF) exists as a multimer in solution and when bound to its regulatory element (HSE). We have previously reported evidence that subunits of HSF associate to form homotrimers and that each subunit contacts a conserved 5 bp DNA sequence repeated within an HSE. Here we show that HSF binding is highly cooperative at two distinct levels: between subunits of the HSF multimer, and between multimers. The binding of HSF to one of a pair of adjacent trimeric binding sites facilitates HSF binding to the second by over 2000-fold. This cooperativity is particularly important in binding HSF at 37 degrees C, and could account for the requirement for multiple binding sites in vivo and, in part, for the differential expression of heat shock genes.