| First Author | Lacorazza HD | Year | 2002 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 437-49 |
| PubMed ID | 12387738 | Mgi Jnum | J:79568 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2388503 | Doi | 10.1016/s1074-7613(02)00422-3 |
| Citation | Lacorazza HD, et al. (2002) The ETS Protein MEF Plays a Critical Role in Perforin Gene Expression and the Development of Natural Killer and NK-T Cells. Immunity 17(4):437 |
| abstractText | We utilized gene targeting by homologous recombination to define the role that MEF, a transcriptional activating member of the ETS family of transcription factors, plays in lymphopoiesis. MEF-/- mice have a profound reduction in the number of NK-T and NK cells. Purified MEF-/- NK cells cannot lyse tumor cell targets and secrete only minimal amounts of IFNgamma. Perforin protein expression is severely impaired in MEF-deficient NK cells, likely accounting for the lack of tumor cell cytotoxicity. Promoter studies and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrate that MEF and not ETS-1 directly regulates transcription of the perforin gene in NK cells. Our results uncover a specific role of MEF in the development and function of NK cells and in innate immunity. |
