Isolation of developmental factors which interact with E47

grantor: University of TorontoMolecular interactions between transcription factors containing basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domains regulate differentiation in several tissues. The bHLH proteins contain two functional domains, the basic region confers DNA binding ability and the HLH domain permits dimerization. The human E2A gene encodes at least two widely expressed bHLH proteins, E12 and E47, which differ only in their basic motifs. The E2A gene products can homodimerize or heterodimerize with other tissue-specific bHLH proteins and activate transcription of cell-specific genes during differentiation of several tissues including B cells, skeletal muscle and neurons. My objective was to isolate E47-associated proteins expressed in developing human retina and developing mice. I screened a human fetal eye library and a murine embryonic day 11.5 library using the yeast two hybrid system. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)M.Sc