Note | 251 amino acids. Isoelectric point: 10,0228. Molecular weight of the protein: 28209 Da. |
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| Figure 3. Structure of Cbx7 protein. Cbx7 has a chromodomain motif and a Polycomb (Pc) box which are indicated in grey. |
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Description | CBX7 has a chromodomain region which is commonly found in proteins associated with the remodelling and manipulation of chromatin. In mammals, chromodomain-containing proteins are responsible for aspects of gene regulation related to chromatin remodelling and formation of heterochromatin regions. Chromodomain-containing proteins also bind methylated histones and appear in the RNA-induced transcriptional silencing complex. Specifically, CBX7 is involved in maintaining the transcriptionally repressive state of its target genes. The better characterized target of CBX7 is the INK4a/ARF locus, which is repressed by CBX7 in order to overcome the senescent phenotype in several mouse and human cell lines. Repression of other targets like E-cadherin has been also suggested. |
Expression | CBX7 is expressed ubiquitously, but at higher levels in the nervous system, thyroid gland, prostate, fallopian tubes and bladder in normal tissue. CBX7 expression is also high in ES cells. |
Localisation | In the nucleus. |
Function | CBX7 is a member of the Polycomb group (PcG) genes, which are transcriptional repressors that play an essential role in development, cancer progression and stem cell maintenance. Mainly two different PcG complexes have been described: Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) and PRC2. PRC2 is the complex implicated in initiating the silencing of its target genes by methylating histone H3 on lysines 9 and 27. PRC1 is implicated in stabilizing this repressive state by recognizing the methylation marks through the Polycomb proteins and by ubiquitinating the histone H2A on Lys119. CBX7 belongs to the PRC1 complex and has been described to be a regulator of cellular lifespan by repressing the INK4a/ARF locus in several mouse and human cell lines. On the other hand, depletion of CBX7 from the cell induces a senescent phenotype by increasing the expression of the cell cycle regulators p16/ARF. X chromosome inactivation CBX7 has high affinity for binding H3K9me3 and H3K27me3. It associates with heterochromatin, binds RNA and it's enriched in the X chromosome, giving CBX7 a role in maintaining the repression of genes in the X chromosome. Epigenetic regulation CBX7, as part of the PRC1 complex, has a role in maintaining the repressive state of its target genes. CBX7 binds to the long non-coding RNA ANRIL in order to represses the INK4a/ARF locus and this interaction is essential for CBX7's function. Both CBX7 and ANRIL have been found to have high levels in prostate cancer tissues. Stem cells self-renewal CBX7 has been recently implicated to be essential for maintaining the pluripotency state of stem cells (ES cells). Overexpression of CBX7 in ESC impairs cell differentation. On the other hand, depletion of CBX7 from ESC induces spontaneous differentiation. Two different miR families (miR-125 and miR-181) were identified in a screening for CBX7 regulators and have been described to have a role in ESC differentiation by targeting the 3'UTR of CBX7. |
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| Figure 4. 4a: Summary of Cbx7's mechanism in embryonic stem cells (ESC). Cbx7 is essential for ESC self-renewal. Loss of Cbx7, either by differentiating ESC or by an exogenous/endogenous induction of the microRNA (miR) families miR-125 and miR-181, induces ESC differentiation. This is accompanied by an increase in other Cbxs as they are targets of Cbx7. On the other hand, overexpression of Cbx7 in ESC reinforces pluripotency and keeps the cells in an ESC-like state when forced to differentiate. 4b and 4c: Summary of Cbx7's mechanism in human primary fibroblasts (IMR-90). Ectopic expression of the miR families miR-125 and miR-181 induces a degradation of Cbx7 mRNA in IMR-90. Depletion of Cbx7 induces the cells to senesce. Thus, overexpression of miR-125 and miR-181 induces senescence through downregulation of Cbx7. |
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CBX7 controls the growth of normal and tumor-derived prostate cells by repressing the Ink4a/Arf locus. |
Bernard D, Martinez-Leal JF, Rizzo S, Martinez D, Hudson D, Visakorpi T, Peters G, Carnero A, Beach D, Gil J. |
Oncogene. 2005 Aug 25;24(36):5543-51. |
PMID 15897876 |
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Mouse polycomb proteins bind differentially to methylated histone H3 and RNA and are enriched in facultative heterochromatin. |
Bernstein E, Duncan EM, Masui O, Gil J, Heard E, Allis CD. |
Mol Cell Biol. 2006 Apr;26(7):2560-9. |
PMID 16537902 |
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Role of polycomb group proteins in stem cell self-renewal and cancer. |
Gil J, Bernard D, Peters G. |
DNA Cell Biol. 2005 Feb;24(2):117-25. (REVIEW) |
PMID 15699631 |
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Nonoverlapping functions of the polycomb group cbx family of proteins in embryonic stem cells. |
Morey L, Pascual G, Cozzuto L, Roma G, Wutz A, Benitah SA, Di Croce L. |
Cell Stem Cell. 2012 Jan 6;10(1):47-62. |
PMID 22226355 |
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MicroRNA Regulation of Cbx7 Mediates a Switch of Polycomb Orthologs during ESC Differentiation. |
O'Loghlen A, Munoz-Cabello AM, Gaspar-Maia A, Wu HA, Banito A, Kunowska N, Racek T, Pemberton HN, Beolchi P, Lavial F, Masui O, Vermeulen M, Carroll T, Graumann J, Heard E, Dillon N, Azuara V, Snijders AP, Peters G, Bernstein E, Gil J. |
Cell Stem Cell. 2012 Jan 6;10(1):33-46. |
PMID 22226354 |
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Loss of the CBX7 gene expression correlates with a highly malignant phenotype in thyroid cancer. |
Pallante P, Federico A, Berlingieri MT, Bianco M, Ferraro A, Forzati F, Iaccarino A, Russo M, Pierantoni GM, Leone V, Sacchetti S, Troncone G, Santoro M, Fusco A. |
Cancer Res. 2008 Aug 15;68(16):6770-8. |
PMID 18701502 |
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Role of the chromobox protein CBX7 in lymphomagenesis. |
Scott CL, Gil J, Hernando E, Teruya-Feldstein J, Narita M, Martinez D, Visakorpi T, Mu D, Cordon-Cardo C, Peters G, Beach D, Lowe SW. |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Mar 27;104(13):5389-94. Epub 2007 Mar 20. |
PMID 17374722 |
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Molecular interplay of the noncoding RNA ANRIL and methylated histone H3 lysine 27 by polycomb CBX7 in transcriptional silencing of INK4a. |
Yap KL, Li S, Munoz-Cabello AM, Raguz S, Zeng L, Mujtaba S, Gil J, Walsh MJ, Zhou MM. |
Mol Cell. 2010 Jun 11;38(5):662-74. |
PMID 20541999 |
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