Distal regulation of c-myb expression during IL-6-induced differentiation in murine myeloid progenitor M1 cells

The c-Myb transcription factor is a major regulator that controls differentiation and proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells, which is frequently deregulated in hematological diseases, such as lymphoma and leukemia. Understanding of the mechanisms regulating the transcription of c-myb gene is challenging as it lacks a typical promoter and multiple factors are involved. Our previous studies identified some distal regulatory elements in the upstream regions of c-myb gene in murine myeloid progenitor M1 cells, but the detailed mechanisms still remain unclear. In the present study, we found that a cell differentiation-related DNase1 hypersensitive site is located at a −28k region upstream of c-myb gene and that transcription factors Hoxa9, Meis1 and PU.1 bind to the −28k region. Circular chromosome conformation capture (4C) assay confirmed the interaction between the −28k region and the c-myb promoter, which is supported by the enrichment of CTCF and Cohesin. Our analysis also points to a critical role for Hoxa9 and PU.1 in distal regulation of c-myb expression in murine myeloid cells and cell differentiation. Overexpression of Hoxa9 disrupted the IL-6-induced differentiation of M1 cells and upregulated c-myb expression through binding of the −28k region. Taken together, our results provide an evidence for critical role of the −28k region in distal regulatory mechanism for c-myb gene expression during differentiation of myeloid progenitor M1 cells.