Tetramerisation governs SALL transcription factor function in development and disease

Abstract

Spalt-like (SALL) proteins are C2H2 zinc-finger transcription factors important for embryogenesis, with mutations in SALL1 and SALL4 causing rare congenital disorders Townes-Brocks and Okihiro syndromes, respectively. While SALL proteins are known to associate with one another, the biological significance of the resulting complexes is unknown. Here we define a conserved glutamine-rich region that mediates SALL1/4 homo- and heterotetramerisation and find that complex formation is indispensable for DNA binding. Modelling a patient mutation that abolishes SALL4 multimerisation led to gene misregulation and, in mice, embryonic lethality, therefore phenocopying a complete Sall4 knockout. Furthermore, a common disease-causing SALL1 truncation, which retains multimerisation but lacks DNA-binding domains, sequesters SALL4 into heterotetramers that are defective in DNA binding, thereby providing a mechanistic explanation for the dominant-negative effects of many Townes-Brocks mutations. Together, our findings establish tetramerisation as a prerequisite for SALL function, linking complex formation to developmental gene regulation and human disease.