FTZ-Factor1 and Fushi tarazu interact via conserved nuclear receptor and coactivator motifs

• Published in: The EMBO journal Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 510 - 519
• Main Authors: Schwartz, Carol J.E., Sampson, Heidi M., Hlousek, Daniela, Percival-Smith, Anthony, Copeland, John W.R., Simmonds, Andrew J., Krause, Henry M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-02-2001; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Amino Acid Motifs; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Binding Sites - genetics; Conserved Sequence; DNA - genetics; DNA Primers - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - chemistry; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Drosophila; Drosophila - embryology; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins; Evolution, Molecular; FTZ-F1; FTZ-Factor 1; Fushi tarazu; Fushi tarazu protein; Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; homeodomain; Homeodomain Proteins - chemistry; Homeodomain Proteins - genetics; Homeodomain Proteins - metabolism; In Vitro Techniques; Insect Proteins - chemistry; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insect Proteins - metabolism; Ligands; Molecular Sequence Data; nuclear receptor; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear - chemistry; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear - genetics; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear - metabolism; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Steroidogenic Factor 1; Transcription Factors - chemistry; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism
• ISSN: 0261-4189; 1460-2075; 1460-2075
• DOI: 10.1093/emboj/20.3.510

To activate transcription, most nuclear receptor proteins require coactivators that bind to their ligand‐binding domains (LBDs). The Drosophila FTZ‐Factor1 (FTZ‐F1) protein is a conserved member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, but was previously thought to lack an AF2 motif, a motif that is required for ligand and coactivator binding. Here we show that FTZ‐F1 does have an AF2 motif and that it is required to bind a coactivator, the homeodomain‐containing protein Fushi tarazu (FTZ). We also show that FTZ contains an AF2‐interacting nuclear receptor box, the first to be found in a homeodomain protein. Both interaction motifs are shown to be necessary for physical interactions in vitro and for functional interactions in developing embryos. These unexpected findings have important implications for the conserved homologs of the two proteins.