RUNX1 Directly Regulates Band 3 Transcription.

RUNX1 (AML1 or CBFA2) regulates the expression of a number of genes important to hematopoiesis. Gene knockout studies demonstrated that a heterodimeric complex of RUNX1 and its DNA binding partner, core binding factor-beta (CBFbeta), is essential for definitive hematopoiesis. Here, we report that RUNX1 directly represses expression of the Band 3 gene prior to terminal erythroid differentiation. Band 3 is one of four major components of the erythrocyte membrane skeleton and is important for maintenance of cytoskeletal architecture and electroneutral Cl-/HCO3− exchange across the red cell membrane. Band 3 expression, like that of beta-globin, increases dramatically with terminal erythroid differentiation. In a previous study, we identified an upstream region in the mouse Band 3 gene designated as B3URE (for Band 3 upstream regulatory region) bound by multiple transcription factors, including TAL1 (also known as SCL), RUNX1, Ldb1, and GATA1, that acts as an orientation- and position-independent and tissue-specific repressive element. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed that RUNX1 was associated with the B3URE in intact MEL cells and electrophoretic mobility shift analysis confirmed specific RUNX1 interaction with RUNX1 binding sites in the B3URE. Together with CBFbeta, RUNX1 inhibited reporter activity from a construct linking the B3URE with 1 kb of Band 3 promoter in transiently transfected MEL but not COS cells. DNA affinity precipitation analysis with wild-type and mutant oligos established that RUNX1 and CBFbeta in MEL cell nuclear extracts could interact with the B3URE in vitro and suggested that RUNX1 recruits TAL1 and Ldb1 to DNA. Northern blot and quantitative real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that enforced expression of RUNX1 dramatically inhibited dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)-induced Band 3 gene expression. Quantitative ChIP analysis showed that histone acetylation in the B3URE increased more than 4-fold, while histone methylation decreased ~50% after 3 days of DMSO-induced differentiation. Over the same time frame, the promoter region underwent significantly less acetylation but more extensive demethylation. Finally, changes in B3URE acetylation and methylation were attenuated and inhibited, respectively, in RUNX1-transfected MEL cells relative to vector controls. In sum, these results demonstrate that the Band 3 gene is a direct target of RUNX1 in erythroid cells and indicate that the B3URE contributes to the tightly regulated expression of this gene in differentiating erythroid progenitors. One mechanism by which RUNX1 regulates Band 3 transcription may be by influencing histone acetylation/methylation in this upstream regulatory region.