Human Smad3 and Smad4 are sequence-specific transcription activators

Leigh Zawel, Jia Le Dai, Phillip Buckhaults, Shibin Zhou, Kenneth W. Kinzler, Bert Vogelstein, Scott E. Kern

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

871 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates that Smad proteins are required for TGFβ signaling, but the way(s) in which Smad proteins propagate this signal is unclear. We found that two human Smad proteins (Smad3 and Smad4) could specifically recognize an identical 8 bp palindromic sequence (GTCTAGAC). Tandem repeats of this palindrome conferred striking TGFβ responsiveness to a minimal promoter. This responsiveness was abrogated by targeted deletion of the cellular Smad4gene. These results define a novel biochemical property of Smad proteins that is likely to play a direct role in the biologic responses to TGFβ and related ligands.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)611-617
Number of pages7
JournalMolecular cell
Volume1
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1998

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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