A human forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor expressed in developing pulmonary and renal epithelium

• Published in: American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology Vol. 274; no. 3; pp. 351 - L359
• Main Authors: Pelletier, Glenn J, Brody, Steven L, Liapis, Helen, White, Robert A, Hackett, Brian P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.1998
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; Chromosome Mapping; DNA, Complementary - chemistry; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - isolation & purification; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Gene Library; Gestational Age; Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4; Humans; Kidney - embryology; Lung - embryology; Molecular Sequence Data; Phosphoproteins - genetics; Phosphoproteins - isolation & purification; Phosphoproteins - metabolism; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - isolation & purification; Transcription Factors - metabolism
• ISSN: 1040-0605; 0002-9513; 1522-1504
• DOI: 10.1152/ajplung.1998.274.3.L351

Departments of 1  Surgery, 2  Internal Medicine, 3  Pathology, and 5  Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110; and 4  Section of Genetics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri 64108 Members of the forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor family play crucial roles during vertebrate development. A human hepatocyte nuclear factor/forkhead homolog (HFH)-4 cDNA encoding a 421-amino acid protein was isolated from a human fetal lung cDNA library. By Southern blot analysis of human-rodent somatic cell hybrid genomic DNA, the human HFH-4 gene localizes to chromosome 17q23-qter. This is the locus of another forkhead/winged-helix gene, the interleukin enhancer binding factor gene. RNA blot analysis revealed a 2.5-kilobase human HFH-4 transcript in fetal lung, kidney, and brain as well as in adult reproductive tissues, lung, and brain. By in situ hybridization, HFH-4 expression is associated with differentiation of the proximal pulmonary epithelium, starting during the pseudoglandular stage of human lung development. During human renal morphogenesis, HFH-4 is expressed in the developing epithelial cells of the ureteric duct, glomerulus, and epithelial vesicles. The unique pattern of HFH-4 expression during human fetal development suggests a role for this forkhead/winged-helix factor during pulmonary and renal epithelial development. transcription factors; human development; gene expression