Monoclonal antibodies to NF-Y define its function in MHC class II and albumin gene transcription.

NF-Y is a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein which, as a heterodimer, recognizes CCAAT motifs in a variety of transcriptional promoters. We have generated a panel of monoclonal and affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies directed against various epitopes of NF-Y. These reagents are highly specific for either of the A or B subunits; we have mapped the epitopes recognized by the monoclonal antibodies to the glutamine-rich activation domain of NF-YA. The antibodies inhibit in vitro transcription from the promoters of the albumin gene and of Ea, a class II gene of the major histocompatibility complex. These data definitively demonstrate the role of NF-Y in regulating the transcription of two tissue-specific genes whose expression patterns do not overlap. Interestingly, the antibodies cannot inhibit a formed pre-initiation complex, but do block reinitiation of subsequent rounds of transcription from the same templates.