TATA-box binding protein-associated factor 1 (TAF1), the largest subunit of the transcription factor IID complex, plays an important role in the RNA polymerase II-mediated gene transcription pathway regulating the transcription of a large number of genes related to cell division. The neuron-specific isoform of the TAF1 gene ( N-TAF1) may have an essential role in neurons through transcriptional regulation of many neuron-specific genes. The present study reports the preparation and properties of a monoclonal antibody directed against N-TAF1. The monoclonal antibody, 3A-11F, specifically recognized N-TAF1 protein with no reactivity to TAF1 protein, as evidenced by immunocytochemistry and immunoprecipitation using cultured cells expressing recombinant N-TAF1 or TAF1 protein. Immunohistochemistry using 3A-11F showed that N-TAF1-imunoreactivity was detected in the nuclear region of neurons in the rat brain. The 3A-11F monoclonal antibody promises to be a useful tool for determining the expression pattern and biological function of N-TAF1 in the brain.
References
[1]
Burley, S.K.; Roeder, R.G. Biochemistry and structural biology of transcription factor IID (TFIID). Annu. Rev. Biochem. 1996, 65, 769–799, doi:10.1146/annurev.bi.65.070196.004005.
[2]
Tora, L. A unified nomenclature for TATA box binding protein (TBP)-associated factors (TAFs) involved in RNA polymerase II transcription. Genes Dev. 2002, 16, 673–675, doi:10.1101/gad.976402.
[3]
Albright, S.R.; Tjian, R. TAFs revisited: More data reveal new twists and confirm old ideas. Gene 2000, 242, 1–13, doi:10.1016/S0378-1119(99)00495-3.
[4]
Green, M.R. TBP-associated factors (TAFIIs): Multiple, selective transcriptional mediators in common complexes. Trends Biochem. Sci. 2000, 25, 59–63, doi:10.1016/S0968-0004(99)01527-3.
[5]
Thomas, M.C.; Chiang, C.M. The general transcription machinery and general cofactors. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 2006, 41, 105–178, doi:10.1080/10409230600648736.
[6]
Sekiguchi, T.; Nohiro, Y.; Nakamura, Y.; Hisamoto, N.; Nishimoto, T. The human CCG1 gene, essential for progression of the G1 phase, encodes a 210-kilodalton nuclear DNA-binding protein. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1991, 11, 3317–3325.
[7]
Ruppert, S.; Wang, E.H.; Tjian, R. Cloning and expression of human TAFII250: A TBP-associated factor implicated in cell-cycle regulation. Nature 1993, 362, 175–179, doi:10.1038/362175a0.
[8]
Wang, E.H.; Tjian, R. Promoter-selective transcriptional defect in cell cycle mutant ts13 rescued by hTAFII250. Science 1994, 263, 811–814.
[9]
Dikstein, R.; Ruppert, S.; Tjian, R. TAFII250 is a bipartite protein kinase that phosphorylates the base transcription factor RAP74. Cell 1996, 84, 781–790, doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81055-7.
[10]
Mizzen, C.A.; Yang, X.J.; Kokubo, T.; Brownell, J.E.; Bannister, A.J.; Owen-Hughes, T.; Workman, J.; Wang, L.; Berger, S.L.; Kouzarides, T.; et al. The TAF(II)250 subunit of TFIID has histone acetyltransferase activity. Cell 1996, 87, 1261–1270, doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81821-8.
[11]
Pham, A.D.; Sauer, F. Ubiquitin-activating/conjugating activity of TAFII250, a mediator of activation of gene expression in Drosophila. Science 2000, 289, 2357–2360, doi:10.1126/science.289.5488.2357.
[12]
O’Brien, T.; Tjian, R. Functional analysis of the human TAFII250 N-terminal kinase domain. Mol. Cell 1998, 1, 905–911, doi:10.1016/S1097-2765(00)80089-1.
[13]
Makino, S.; Kaji, R.; Ando, S.; Tomizawa, M.; Yasuno, K.; Goto, S.; Matsumoto, S.; Tabuena, M.D.; Maranon, E.; Dantes, M.; et al. Reduced neuron-specific expression of the TAF1 gene is associated with X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 2007, 80, 393–406, doi:10.1086/512129.
[14]
Jambaldorj, J.; Makino, S.; Munkhbat, B.; Tamiya, G. Sustained expression of a neuron-specific isoform of the Taf1 gene in development stages and aging in mice. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2012, 425, 273–277, doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.07.081.
[15]
Sako, W.; Morigaki, R.; Kaji, R.; Tooyama, I.; Okita, S.; Kitazato, K.; Nagahiro, S.; Graybiel, A.M.; Goto, S. Identification and localization of a neuron-specific isoform of TAF1 in rat brain: Implications for neuropathology of DYT3 dystonia. Neuroscience 2011, 189, 100–107, doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.05.031.
[16]
Tamiya, G. Transcriptional dysregulation: a cause of dystonia? Lancet Neurol. 2009, 8, 416–418, doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70087-0.
[17]
Tamiya, G.; Makino, S.; Kaji, R. TAF1 as the most plausible disease gene of XDP/DYT3. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 2007, 8, 417–418.
[18]
Tooyama, I.; Kimura, H. A protein encoded by an alternative splice variant of choline acetyltransferase mRNA is localized preferentially in peripheral nerve cells and fibers. J. Chem. Neuroanat. 2000, 17, 217–226, doi:10.1016/S0891-0618(99)00043-5.
