Rm. Cripps et al., THE MYOGENIC REGULATORY GENE MEF2 IS A DIRECT TARGET FOR TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVATION BY TWIST DURING DROSOPHILA MYOGENESIS, Genes & development, 12(3), 1998, pp. 422-434
MEF2 is a MADS-box transcription factor required for muscle developmen
t in Drosophila. Here, we show that the bHLH transcription factor Twis
t directly regulates Mef2 expression in adult somatic muscle precursor
cells via a 175-bp enhancer located 2245 bp upstream of the transcrip
tional start site. Within this element, a single evolutionarily conser
ved E box is essential for enhancer activity. Twist protein can bind t
o this E box to activate Mef2 transcription, and ectopic expression of
twist results in ectopic activation of the wild-type 175-bp enhancer.
By use of a temperature-sensitive mutant of twist, we show that activ
ation of Mef2 transcription via this enhancer by Twist is required for
normal adult muscle development, and reduction in Twist function resu
lts in phenotypes similar to those observed previously in Mef2 mutant
adults. The 175-bp enhancer is also active in the embryonic mesoderm,
indicating that this enhancer functions at multiple times during devel
opment, and its function is dependent on the same conserved E box. In
embryos, a reduction in Twist function also strongly reduced Mef2 expr
ession. These findings define a novel transcriptional pathway required
for skeletal muscle development and identify Twist as an essential an
d direct regulator of Mef2 expression in the somatic mesoderm.