CEBPA

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP), alpha
PDB rendering based on 1nwq.[1]
Available structures PDB Ortholog search: PDBe, RCSB List of PDB id codes 1nwq​
Identifiers
Symbols	CEBPA ; C/EBP-alpha; CEBP
External IDs	OMIM: 116897 MGI: 99480 HomoloGene: 3211 GeneCards: CEBPA Gene
Gene ontology Molecular function • RNA polymerase II core promoter proximal region sequence-specific DNA binding • RNA polymerase I regulatory region DNA binding • transcriptional activator activity, RNA polymerase II core promoter proximal region sequence-specific binding • transcriptional activator activity, RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific binding • DNA binding • transcription factor activity, sequence-specific DNA binding • transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II distal enhancer sequence-specific binding • transcription coactivator activity • protein binding • transcription factor binding • kinase binding • protein complex binding • protein homodimerization activity • histone deacetylase binding • transcription regulatory region DNA binding • protein heterodimerization activity • HMG box domain binding Cellular component • nucleus • nucleolus • nuclear matrix • Rb-E2F complex • CHOP-C/EBP complex • RNA polymerase II transcription factor complex Biological process • urea cycle • negative regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • liver development • embryonic placenta development • generation of precursor metabolites and energy • transcription, DNA-templated • transcription from RNA polymerase I promoter • transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • acute-phase response • mitochondrion organization • cholesterol metabolic process • negative regulation of cell proliferation • viral process • cytokine-mediated signaling pathway • myeloid cell differentiation • macrophage differentiation • lung development • granulocyte differentiation • organ regeneration • positive regulation of proteasomal ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic process • response to vitamin B2 • glucose homeostasis • fat cell differentiation • positive regulation of fat cell differentiation • positive regulation of osteoblast differentiation • negative regulation of cyclin-dependent protein serine/threonine kinase activity • negative regulation of transcription, DNA-templated • positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase III promoter • cell maturation • inner ear development • white fat cell differentiation • brown fat cell differentiation • response to glucocorticoid • lipid homeostasis • cellular response to lithium ion • cellular response to organic cyclic compound Sources: Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs
Species	Human	Mouse
Entrez	1050	12606
Ensembl	ENSG00000245848	ENSMUSG00000034957
UniProt	P49715	P53566
RefSeq (mRNA)	NM_001285829	NM_001287514
RefSeq (protein)	NP_001272758	NP_001274443
Location (UCSC)	Chr 19: 33.3 – 33.3 Mb	Chr 7: 35.12 – 35.12 Mb
PubMed search

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CEBPA gene.^[2][3] CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha is a transcription factor involved in the differentiation of certain Blood cells.^[4]

Function

The protein encoded by this intronless gene is a bZIP transcription factor which can bind as a homodimer to certain promoters and enhancers. It can also form heterodimers with the related proteins CEBP-beta and CEBP-gamma. The encoded protein has been shown to bind to the promoter and modulate the expression of the gene encoding leptin, a protein that plays an important role in body weight homeostasis. Also, the encoded protein can interact with CDK2 and CDK4, thereby inhibiting these kinases and causing growth arrest in cultured cells.^[5]

Common mutations

There are two major categories which CEBPA mutations can be categorized into. One category of mutations prevent CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha DNA binding by altering its COOH-terminal basic leucine zipper domain. The other category of mutations disrupt the translation of the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha NH₂ terminus. CEBPA mutations, which result in diminished CCATT/enhancer-binding protein alpha activity, contribute to the transformation of myeloid antecedents.^[6]

Interactions

CEBPA has been shown to interact with Cyclin-dependent kinase 2^[7] and Cyclin-dependent kinase 4.^[7]

Clinical significance

It has been shown that mutation of CEBPA has been linked to good outcome in both adult and pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients.^[8]

Significance in acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia is characterized by genetic abnormalities in hematopoietic progenitors. This includes excessive proliferation of blasts, and blocking the hematopoiesis of ganulocytes. It has been shown that suppression of CEBPA expression and blocking of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha stops the differentiation of myeloid progenitors. For this reason, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha's role during granulocyte differentiation and CEBPA's role as a tumor suppressor gene is critically important in the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia.^[9]

Prognostic significance of CEBPA mutations

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha, the transcription factor that is encoded by CEBPA, is very important in the differentiation of immature granulocytes. Mutation of the CEBPA gene has been shown to play a crucial role in leukemogenesis and prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia patients. In recent studies CEBPA mutations were found in between 7% and 15% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The three different types of mutations seen in these AML patients include germ-line N-terminal mutation, N-terminal frameshift mutation, and C-terminal mutation. These mutations are most frequently found in acute myeloid leukemia M1 or acute myeloid leukemia M2. Many reports link CEBPA mutations with a favorable outcome in acute myeloid leukemia. This is because these mutations are liley to induce differentiation arrest in these patients. Patients with CEBPA mutations have longer remission duration and survival time than those without the mutations.^[6] Therefore the presence of CEBPA mutations are directly associated with a more favorable course for the progression of the disease.^[10]

Significance in solid tumors

Recently it has been shown that epigenetic modification of the distal promoter region of CEBPA has resulted in downregulation of CEBPA expression in pancreatic cancer cells, lung cancer, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.^[11][12]

Methylation of CEBPA as a prognostic biomarker in AML patients

A recent study has found that higher levels of CEBPA methylation are directly proportionate with treatment response. The complete response rate increased proportionately with the level of CEBPA methylation. For this reason it has been proposed that methylation of CEBPA could be a very useful biomarker in acute myeloid leukemia prognosis.^[13]

See also

Ccaat-enhancer-binding proteins

References

1. Miller, M; Shuman, J. D.; Sebastian, T; Dauter, Z; Johnson, P. F. (2003). "Structural basis for DNA recognition by the basic region leucine zipper transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha". Journal of Biological Chemistry 278 (17): 15178–84. doi:10.1074/jbc.M300417200. PMID 12578822.
2. Szpirer C, Riviere M, Cortese R, Nakamura T, Islam MQ, Levan G, Szpirer J (July 1992). "Chromosomal localization in man and rat of the genes encoding the liver-enriched transcription factors C/EBP, DBP, and HNF1/LFB-1 (CEBP, DBP, and transcription factor 1, TCF1, respectively) and of the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor gene (HGF)". Genomics 13 (2): 293–300. doi:10.1016/0888-7543(92)90245-N. PMID 1535333.
3. Cao Z, Umek RM, McKnight SL (October 1991). "Regulated expression of three C/EBP isoforms during adipose conversion of 3T3-L1 cells". Genes Dev 5 (9): 1538–52. doi:10.1101/gad.5.9.1538. PMID 1840554.
4. "CEBPA". Genetics Home Reference. April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
5. "Entrez Gene: CEBPA CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP), alpha".
6. Lin LI, Chen CY, Lin DT, Tsay W, Tang JL, Yeh YC, et al. Characterization of CEBPA mutations in acute myeloid leukemia: most patients with CEBPA mutations have biallelic mutations and show a distinct immunophenotype of the leukemic cells. Clin Cancer Res 2005;11:1372–9.
7. Wang H, Iakova P, Wilde M, Welm A, Goode T, Roesler WJ, Timchenko NA (October 2001). "C/EBPalpha arrests cell proliferation through direct inhibition of Cdk2 and Cdk4". Mol. Cell 8 (4): 817–28. doi:10.1016/S1097-2765(01)00366-5. PMID 11684017.
8. Ho PA, Alonzo TA, Gerbing RB, Pollard J, Stirewalt DL, Hurwitz C, Heerema NA, Hirsch B, Raimondi SC, Lange B, Franklin JL, Radich JP, Meshinchi S (June 2009). "Prevalence and prognostic implications of CEBPA mutations in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML): a report from the Children's Oncology Group". Blood 113 (26): 6558–66. doi:10.1182/blood-2008-10-184747. PMC 2943755. PMID 19304957.
9. Lin TC, Hou HA, Chou WC, Ou DL, Yu SL, Tien HF et al. (2011). CEBPA methylation as a prognostic biomarker in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia25: 32–40.
10. El-Sharnouby JA, Ahmed LM, Taha AM, Kamal O. Prognostic significance of CEBPA mutations and BAALC expression in acute myeloid leukemia Egyptian patients with normal karyotype. Egypt J Immunol. 2010;15:131–143.
11. Tada Y, Brena RM, Hackanson B, Morrison C, Otterson GA, Plass C. Epigenetic modulation of tumor suppressor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha activity in lung cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006; 98: 396–406.
12. Bennett KL, Hackanson B, Smith LT, Morrison CD, Lang JC, Schuller DE et al. Tumor suppressor activity of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha is epigenetically down-regulated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Res 2007; 67: 4657–4664.
13. Lin TC, Hou HA, Chou WC, Ou DL, Yu SL, Tien HF et al. (2011). CEBPA methylation as a prognostic biomarker in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia 25: 32–40.

Further reading

• Sladek FM, Darnell JE (1992). "Mechanisms of liver-specific gene expression.". Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 2 (2): 256–9. doi:10.1016/S0959-437X(05)80282-5. PMID 1638120.
• Marcucci G, Mrózek K, Bloomfield CD (2005). "Molecular heterogeneity and prognostic biomarkers in adults with acute myeloid leukemia and normal cytogenetics.". Curr. Opin. Hematol. 12 (1): 68–75. doi:10.1097/01.moh.0000149608.29685.d1. PMID 15604894.
• Leroy H, Roumier C, Huyghe P, Biggio V, Fenaux P, Preudhomme C (March 2005). "CEBPA point mutations in hematological malignancies". Leukemia 19 (3): 329–34. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2403614. PMID 15674366.

External links

• GeneReviews/NIH/NCBI/UW entry on Familial Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) with Mutated CEBPA
• CEBPA protein, human at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.