ABSTRACT
Compared to other DNA damage inducible genes that have been examined in mammalian cells, gadd153 is unique in several respects. In Escherichia coli, treatments that damage DNA or inhibit its replication elicit the rapid and coordinate expression of some 20 different genes of metabolically diverse pathways, known collectively as the SOS response. Pools of stable transformants carrying the integrated chimeric gene have been examined for increases in chloramphenicol acetyltransferase expression following their treatment with a variety of genotoxic as well as non-DNA-damaging but otherwise toxic compounds. Several studies have provided evidence that a protein kinase is involved in the DNA damage-induced expression of several genes. The mechanisms involved in the transcriptional activation of gadd153 by DNA damage and the role of the AP–1 binding sequence in determining the differential response to DNA damage and 12–O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate are currently under investigation.
