A Nerve Growth Factor-Induced Gene Encodes a Possible Transcriptional Regulatory Factor

TLDR

Nerve growth factor (NGF) promotes nerve fiber outgrowth and the NGFI‑A gene, induced by NGF, encodes a 54‑kDa protein with multiple zinc‑finger domains expressed in brain, lung, and superior cervical ganglion. The authors screened an NGF‑stimulated, cycloheximide‑treated PC12 cDNA library by differential hybridization to identify NGF‑responsive genes. They identified NGFI‑A, a rapidly NGF‑induced cDNA encoding a 54‑kDa protein with multiple zinc‑finger motifs and an additional conserved repeat, which is highly expressed in rat brain, lung, and superior cervical ganglion.

Abstract

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a trophic agent that promotes the outgrowth of nerve fibers from sympathetic and sensory ganglia. The neuronal differentiation stimulated by this hormone was examined in the NGF-responsive cell line PC12. Differential hybridization was used to screen a complementary DNA library constructed from PC12 cells treated with NGF and cycloheximide. One of the complementary DNA clones that was rapidly induced by NGF was found to have a nucleotide sequence that predicts a 54-kilodalton protein with homology to transcriptional regulatory proteins. This clone, NGFI-A, contains three tandemly repeated copies of the 28- to 30-amino acid "zinc finger" domain present in Xenopus laevis TFIIIA and other DNA-binding proteins. It also contains another highly conserved unit of eight amino acids that is repeated at least 11 times. The NGFI-A gene is expressed at relatively high levels in the brain, lung, and superior cervical ganglion of the adult rat.