# Function and Regulation of the ETS Transcriptional Repressor Tel-1/YAN

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2020 · $351,162

## Abstract

!
PROJECT SUMMARY
This is a revised proposal for a renewal application for 1R01GM080372 "Function and regulation of the ETS
transcriptional repressor TEL1/Yan".
Developmental programs are driven by transcription factors that coordinate precise patterns of gene
expression in response to inductive signaling cues. The goals of this proposal are to uncover the regulatory
strategies that keep gene expression programs in progenitors stably off, yet poised for rapid and precise
activation in response to the inductive cues that initiate cell fate specification. Specifically we will study how the
action of two members of the conserved ETS family of transcription factors, a repressor Yan and an activator
Pointed (Pnt), known as TEL1/ETV6 and ETS1/ETS2 in humans, orchestrates the transition from progenitor to
specified cell fate in response to receptor tyrosine kinase/Ras/MAPK signaling pathway. The central
hypothesis is that the activator Pointed organizes and coordinates the entire sequence of events by first
cooperating with Yan to establish the initial repressed state and then working in opposition to switch the
system over to activation of gene expression and adoption of cell fate. Aim 1 explores how different Pointed
isoforms determine the system's sensitivity and response to MAPK signaling. Aim 2 will elucidate the molecular
mechanisms that coordinate Pointed's dual roles as repressor and activator during the cell fate specification
process. Because the ideas we are testing address fundamental mechanisms of developmental regulation, and
the signaling factors and transcriptional networks we study are conserved, the discoveries that emerge will
have broad impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985115
- **Project number:** 5R01GM080372-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Ilaria Rebay
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $351,162
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2007-07-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985115

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985115, Function and Regulation of the ETS Transcriptional Repressor Tel-1/YAN (5R01GM080372-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985115. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*