THE ETS-DOMAIN TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR FAMILY

During recent years, several significant discoveries have been made co ncerning the function of ETS-domain transcription factors. This family of transcription factors was originally defined on the basis of the c onserved primary sequence of their DNA-binding domains, The ETS DNA-bi nding domain is also conserved at the structural level and is a diverg ent member of the winged helix-turn-helix superfamily of DNA binding p roteins, This sequence conservation is reflected by their overlapping DNA-binding specificities based on the central GGAA/T motif, In additi on to DNA-protein interactions, protein-protein interactions with part ner proteins often play major roles in targeting ETS-domain proteins t o specific promoters, Several such partner proteins have been identifi ed, ETS-domain proteins function as either transcriptional activators or repressors and their activities are often regulated by signal trans duction pathways, including the MAP kinase pathways, Specific links be tween such pathways and ETS-domain proteins have been established in s everal different experimental systems, ETS-domain transcription factor s regulate a diverse array of biological functions including mammalian haematopoiesis and Drosophila eye development, In vertebrates, many E TS-domain proteins regulate embryonic and adult haematopoiesis, Deregu lation of ETS-domain protein activity often leads to tumorigenesis, Fu ture work will uncover further details of how these transcription fact ors work at the molecular level to regulate specific biological proces ses. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.