Transcriptional activation of zebrafish fads2 promoter and its transient transgene expression in yolk syncytial layer of zebrafish embryos

ABSTRACT The T-box family of transcription factors, defined by a conserved DNA binding domain called the T-box, regulate various aspects of embryogenesis by activating and/or repressing downstream genes. In spite of the biological significance of the T-box proteins, how they regulate transcription remains to be elucidated. Here we show that the Groucho/TLE-associated protein Ripply converts T-box proteins from activators to repressors. In cultured cells, zebrafish Ripply1, an essential component in somite segmentation, and its structural relatives, Ripply2 and -3, suppress the transcriptional activation mediated by the T-box protein Tbx24, which is coexpressed with ripply1 during segmentation. Ripply1 associates with Tbx24 and converts it to a repressor. Ripply1 also antagonizes the transcriptional activation of another T-box protein, No tail (Ntl), the zebrafish ortholog of Brachyury. Furthermore, injection of a high dosage of ripply1 mRNA into zebrafish eggs causes defective development of the posterior trunk, similar to the phenotype observed in homozygous mutants of ntl. A mutant form of Ripply1 defective in association with Tbx24 also lacks activity in zebrafish embryos. These results indicate that the intrinsic transcriptional property of T-box proteins is controlled by Ripply family proteins, which act as specific adaptors that recruit the global corepressor Groucho/TLE to T-box proteins.

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Transcriptional activation of zebrafish cyp11a1 promoter is dependent on the nuclear receptor Ff1b

Journal of Molecular Endocrinology ◽

10.1677/jme-09-0029 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 121-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sue Ing Quek ◽

Woon Khiong Chan

Keyword(s):

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Bioinformatic Analysis ◽

Regulatory Elements ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Egfp Expression ◽

Synthesis Rate ◽

Zebrafish Embryos ◽

Mobility Shift ◽

Cytochrome P450scc

The cytochrome P450scc (cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme) encoded by CYP11A1 catalyzes the first step in steroidogenesis by converting cholesterol to pregnenolone, and thus, controls the synthesis rate of steroid hormones. In mammals, steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1) has been implicated in the cAMP-mediated transcriptional activation of CYP11A1 promoter. In zebrafish, Ff1b has been established as the homolog of SF1. To assess the dependency of cyp11a1 expression on Ff1b, the putative promoter of zebrafish cyp11a1, spanning 1.7 kb, was isolated and bioinformatic analysis revealed two conserved FF1 response elements (FREs) that potentially bind Ff1b. Transfection studies in cell lines of different lineages confirmed that this promoter fragment contained the necessary regulatory elements required for its basal transcription. Truncation and mutagenesis studies performed in Y1 adrenocortical cells revealed that only the proximal FRE was essential for transcriptional activation. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay, however, indicated that Ff1b bound to both FREs, while their in vivo occupancy was confirmed using a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. Lastly, the cyp11a1 promoter was able to direct EGFP expression specifically to the interrenal gland and genital ridge when transiently expressed in microinjected zebrafish embryos, and the promoter activity is potentiated by ff1b overexpression as measured from luciferase reporter activity in zebrafish embryos.

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The protein product of the zebrafish homologue of the mouse T gene is expressed in nuclei of the germ ring and the notochord of the early embryo

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.116.4.1021 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 116 (4) ◽

pp. 1021-1032 ◽

Cited By ~ 121

Author(s):

S. Schulte-Merker ◽

R.K. Ho ◽

B.G. Herrmann ◽

C. Nusslein-Volhard

Keyword(s):

Early Development ◽

Nuclear Localization ◽

Protein Product ◽

Early Embryo ◽

Paraxial Mesoderm ◽

Zebrafish Embryos ◽

Brachydanio Rerio ◽

Cloning And Sequencing ◽

Yolk Syncytial Layer ◽

In Cells

Embryos mutant for the T gene, in mice, make insufficient mesoderm and fail to develop a notochord. We report the cloning and sequencing of the T gene in the zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio) and show the nuclear localization of the protein product. Both RNA and protein are found in cells of the germ ring, including enveloping layer cells, prior to and during gastrulation of zebrafish embryos. Nuclei of the yolk syncytial layer do not express Zf-T. High levels of expression are maintained throughout early development in the notochord, while in paraxial mesoderm cells the gene is turned off during gastrulation. Exposure of animal cap cells to activinA induces Zf-T expression, as does transplantation into the germ ring.

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Morphogenetic domains in the yolk syncytial layer of axiating zebrafish embryos

Developmental Dynamics ◽

10.1002/dvdy.1216 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 222 (4) ◽

pp. 611-624 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Leonard A. D'Amico ◽

Mark S. Cooper

Keyword(s):

Zebrafish Embryos ◽

Yolk Syncytial Layer

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Split cGAL, an intersectional strategy using a split intein for refined spatiotemporal transgene control in Caenorhabditis elegans

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1720063115 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 (15) ◽

pp. 3900-3905 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Han Wang ◽

Jonathan Liu ◽

Kai P. Yuet ◽

Andrew J. Hill ◽

Paul W. Sternberg

Keyword(s):

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Gene Function ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Transgene Expression ◽

Expression System ◽

Single Pair ◽

C Elegans ◽

Split Intein ◽

Spatiotemporal Control ◽

Single Promoter

Bipartite expression systems, such as the GAL4-UAS system, allow fine manipulation of gene expression and are powerful tools for interrogating gene function. Recently, we established cGAL, a GAL4-based bipartite expression system for transgene control in Caenorhabditis elegans, where a single promoter dictates the expression pattern of a cGAL driver, which then binds target upstream activation sequences to drive expression of a downstream effector gene. Here, we report a split strategy for cGAL using the split intein gp41-1 for intersectional control of transgene expression. Split inteins are protein domains that associate, self-excise, and covalently ligate their flanking peptides together. We split the DNA binding domain and transcriptional activation domain of cGAL and fused them to the N terminal of gp41-1-N-intein and the C terminal of gp41-1-C-intein, respectively. In cells where both halves of cGAL are expressed, a functional cGAL driver is reconstituted via intein-mediated protein splicing. This reconstitution allows expression of the driver to be dictated by two promoters for refined spatial control or spatiotemporal control of transgene expression. We apply the split cGAL system to genetically access the single pair of MC neurons (previously inaccessible with a single promoter), and reveal an important role of protein kinase A in rhythmic pharyngeal pumping in C. elegans. Thus, the split cGAL system gives researchers a greater degree of spatiotemporal control over transgene expression, and will be a valuable genetic tool in C. elegans for dissecting gene function with finer cell-specific resolution.

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Pcgf1 Regulates Early Neural Tube Development Through Histone Methylation in Zebrafish

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology ◽

10.3389/fcell.2020.581636 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Xinyue Li ◽

Guangyu Ji ◽

Juan Zhou ◽

Jingyi Du ◽

Xian Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Tube ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Transcriptional Repression ◽

Neural Induction ◽

Zebrafish Embryos ◽

P19 Cells ◽

Loss Of Function ◽

Expression Levels ◽

Neural Tube Development

The neural induction constitutes the initial step in the generation of the neural tube. Pcgf1, as one of six Pcgf paralogs, is a maternally expressed gene, but its role and mechanism in early neural induction during neural tube development have not yet been explored. In this study, we found that zebrafish embryos exhibited a small head and reduced or even absence of telencephalon after inhibiting the expression of Pcgf1. Moreover, the neural induction process of zebrafish embryos was abnormally activated, and the subsequent NSC self-renewal was inhibited after injecting the Pcgf1 MO. The results of in vitro also showed that knockdown of Pcgf1 increased the expression levels of the neural markers Pax6, Pou3f1, and Zfp521, but decreased the expression levels of the pluripotent markers Oct4, Hes1, and Nanog, which further confirmed that Pcgf1 was indispensable for maintaining the pluripotency of P19 cells. To gain a better understanding of the role of Pcgf1 in early development, we analyzed mRNA profiles from Pcgf1-deficient P19 cells using RNA-seq. We found that the differentially expressed genes were enriched in many functional categories, which related to the development phenotype, and knockdown of Pcgf1 increased the expression of histone demethylases. Finally, our results showed that Pcgf1 loss-of-function decreased the levels of transcriptional repression mark H3K27me3 at the promoters of Ngn1 and Otx2, and the levels of transcriptional activation mark H3K4me3 at the promoters of Pou5f3 and Nanog. Together, our findings reveal that Pcgf1 might function as both a facilitator for pluripotent maintenance and a repressor for neural induction.

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Copper-dependent ATP7B up-regulation drives the resistance of TMEM16A-overexpressing head-and-neck cancer models to platinum toxicity

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bcj20190591 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 476 (24) ◽

pp. 3705-3719 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Avani Vyas ◽

Umamaheswar Duvvuri ◽

Kirill Kiselyov

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Platinum Resistance ◽

Mrna Levels ◽

Strong Positive Correlation ◽

Platinum Compounds ◽

Copper Chelation ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Cancer Models

Platinum-containing drugs such as cisplatin and carboplatin are routinely used for the treatment of many solid tumors including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). However, SCCHN resistance to platinum compounds is well documented. The resistance to platinum has been linked to the activity of divalent transporter ATP7B, which pumps platinum from the cytoplasm into lysosomes, decreasing its concentration in the cytoplasm. Several cancer models show increased expression of ATP7B; however, the reason for such an increase is not known. Here we show a strong positive correlation between mRNA levels of TMEM16A and ATP7B in human SCCHN tumors. TMEM16A overexpression and depletion in SCCHN cell lines caused parallel changes in the ATP7B mRNA levels. The ATP7B increase in TMEM16A-overexpressing cells was reversed by suppression of NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), by the antioxidant N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) and by copper chelation using cuprizone and bathocuproine sulphonate (BCS). Pretreatment with either chelator significantly increased cisplatin's sensitivity, particularly in the context of TMEM16A overexpression. We propose that increased oxidative stress in TMEM16A-overexpressing cells liberates the chelated copper in the cytoplasm, leading to the transcriptional activation of ATP7B expression. This, in turn, decreases the efficacy of platinum compounds by promoting their vesicular sequestration. We think that such a new explanation of the mechanism of SCCHN tumors’ platinum resistance identifies novel approach to treating these tumors.

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Role of molecular chaperones in steroid receptor action

Essays in Biochemistry ◽

10.1042/bse0400041 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 41-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 149

Author(s):

William B Pratt ◽

Mario D Galigniana ◽

Yoshihiro Morishima ◽

Patrick J M Murphy

Keyword(s):

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Protein Trafficking ◽

Steroid Receptors ◽

Transcriptional Regulatory ◽

Ubiquitin Proteasome ◽

Proteasome Pathway ◽

Receptor Action ◽

Binding Cleft ◽

Hsp 90

Unliganded steroid receptors are assembled into heterocomplexes with heat-shock protein (hsp) 90 by a multiprotein chaperone machinery. In addition to binding the receptors at the chaperone site, hsp90 binds cofactors at other sites that are part of the assembly machinery, as well as immunophilins that connect the assembled receptor-hsp90 heterocomplexes to a protein trafficking pathway. The hsp90-/hsp70-based chaperone machinery interacts with the unliganded glucocorticoid receptor to open the steroid-binding cleft to access by a steroid, and the machinery interacts in very dynamic fashion with the liganded, transformed receptor to facilitate its translocation along microtubular highways to the nucleus. In the nucleus, the chaperone machinery interacts with the receptor in transcriptional regulatory complexes after hormone dissociation to release the receptor and terminate transcriptional activation. By forming heterocomplexes with hsp90, the chaperone machinery stabilizes the receptor to degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway of proteolysis.

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