E2A Antagonizes PU.1 Activity through Inhibition of DNA Binding

Antagonistic interactions between transcription factors contribute to cell fate decisions made by multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cells. Concentration of the transcription factor PU.1 affects myeloid/lymphoid development with high levels of PU.1 directing myeloid cell fate acquisition at the expense of B cell differentiation. High levels of PU.1 may be required for myelopoiesis in order to overcome inhibition of its activity by transcription factors that promote B cell development. The B cell transcription factors, E2A and EBF, are necessary for commitment of multipotential progenitors and lymphoid primed multipotential progenitors to lymphocytes. In this report we hypothesized that factors required for early B cell commitment would bind to PU.1 and antagonize its ability to induce myeloid differentiation. We investigated whether E2A and/or EBF associate with PU.1. We observed that the E2A component, E47, but not EBF, directly binds to PU.1. Additionally E47 represses PU.1-dependent transactivation of the MCSFR promoter through antagonizing PU.1’s ability to bind to DNA. Exogenous E47 expression in hematopoietic cells inhibits myeloid differentiation. Our data suggest that E2A antagonism of PU.1 activity contributes to its ability to commit multipotential hematopoietic progenitors to the lymphoid lineages.